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CollectionsAn impressive movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 4 September 2011 07:25
(A review of Exit Through the Gift Shop)Since kept hearing some very good things about this flick, I was really curious about it and I was really eager to check it out. Wow... Eventually, I was rather blown away by the whole thing! First of all, there was a big discussion about the fact that it might actually be a fake but, personally, I didn't think it was a fake but I don't know for sure and, honestly, I really didn't care. Indeed, in my opinion, the whole thing really did happen and The allmighty Banksy actually got pissed off because Guetta got succesfull this way and decided to take revenge with this movie. But, of course, it is only a theory and we will never know for sure. On the other hand, it seemed that he still became mesmerized by this weird and egocentric French guy. Anyway, it was definitely a really intriguing study about Art and how you could define Art. It was also a fascinating jump into the graffiti world. I think the conclusion of the movie is that Art doesn't actually exist but it also can be found in everything. I know, this statement didn't seem to make much sense but it perfectly fit this movie. To conclude, it is a rather unique documentary and it is definitely worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 3 September 2011 07:52
(A review of 13 Going on 30)I wasn't expecting much from this flick but, somehow, I still wanted to check it out. Unfortunately, indeed, it was nothing great, I’m afraid. In my opinion, the main issue with this flick is that it is based on such a very old formula. I mean, back in the 80’s, they made tons of those movies (‘Big’ being the most famous and probably the best one) but more than 20 years later, the whole concept felt terribly outdated and over baked. Actually, if they added something new or interesting, I could have been more intriguing but unfortunately it wasn't meant to be and they just simply followed the formula which was just terribly underwhelming. I have to admit it though, Jennifer Garner was alright and she did her best with this tedious material but I can't say she blew me away whatsoever. Eventually, the only redeeming feature was Mark Ruffalo who gave, as usual, a decent performance and I felt bad for the guy that he picked such a lame flick (at least, I hope he got a nice paycheck out of it). To conclude, I have seen worse and it is a rather harmless but it is still very average romantic comedy and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 2 September 2011 09:52
(A review of Crocodile Dundee II)Against all expectations, ‘Crocodile Dundee’ was a massive worldwide success, so, obviously, since this movie was such a surprise success, a sequel was inevitable. I have to admit it, when I was kid, I thought this guy was pretty cool and the first installment was indeed quite charming and funny but, unfortunately, this sequel was not really convincing, I’m afraid. I mean, sure, there were here and there a few funny scenes but the whole thing was just too long for my taste and some characters were just too stereotypical. Eventually, I have this feeling that this 'Crocodile' Dundee character was actually more appealing for kids than grown-ups. For example, the scene where he hits a coca-cola tin with some stones might be great when you are very young but it is just way too corny for any adult. At least, from a financial point of view, he did make sense to come up rapidly with this sequel which was still quite successful at the box-office but, eventually, 13 years later, when everybody completely forgot about this character, they still came up with a 3rd installment which was a terrible idea and obviously nobody care for the damned thing. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought it was an average sequel and it is not really worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 31 August 2011 07:10
(A review of Death on the Nile)After 'Murder on the Orient Express', it is the second Agatha Christie's adaptation have seen recently. Basically, they pretty much followed the same template and, once again, they gave us a prestigious cast. In fact, I must say that I enjoyed this story more than the one they gave in 'Murder...'. Indeed, concerning ‘Murder…’, even though it was a fun movie to watch thanks to all the stars involved, I thought that the plot was actually rather disappointing and, in my opinion, it actually worked better in this movie. Furthermore, some of the characters were actually quite hilarious like Mrs. Van Schuyler (Bette Davis) and Miss Bowers (Maggie Smith). Unfortunately, some other characters were rather obnoxious and not really entertaining like Salome Otterbourne (Angela Lansbury) and Dr. Bessner (Jack Warden). Still, I thought the plot was quite thrilling even if I figured out the whole thing rather early on, even before anyone got killed. Inceed, except for 1 or 2 things, I thought it was actually quite obvious but it was still enjoyable anyway. To conclude, even though the whole thing was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like this genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 30 August 2011 01:55
(A review of A Better Tomorrow)By now, I have realized that I have a somewhat difficult relationship with John Woo. I mean, like many other directors, when I was a younger, I heard the most incredible things about his work and I became fascinated by the guy, even before watching one single movie he directed. I think I started with 'The Killer' which is supposedly a great masterpiece but which turned out to be one of the most disappointing flicks I have ever seen. After all these years, I guess I should give ‘The Killer’ a second chance, since it is a such a classic, but somehow, I’m still pushing it for some indefinite period of time. Since then, I have been cautious before watching one of his movies, especially the older ones from his Hong-Kong glory. Fortunately, this time around, I was rather satisfied by the end result. I mean, of course, the story was nothing great (something you apparently you have to accept in a John Woo feature otherwise it is practically impossible to see the ‘greatness’ displayed) and the action scenes were completely preposterous. Still, I have to admit it, Chow Yun Fat was definitely and totally badass and the whole thing was just damned entertaining. To conclude, even thought I don’t think it is really that great, I still liked the damned thing and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 30 August 2011 01:39
(A review of The Ice Harvest)Beforehand, I had never heard of this movie so I had no idea what to expect but I thought it could be a nice watch. Honestly, this flick really had some potential. Indeed, there was a good director (Harold Ramis), a pretty cool cast (John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Platt) and the premise was actually pretty intriguing. Unfortunately, in spite of all those good promises, it still failed to really deliver. I mean, the mood of the whole thing was pretty gloomy and I enjoyed it but maybe the pace was wrong and the story was definitely not interesting enough. In my opinion, it was eventually just too much black comedy routine, the whole thing was just too predictable after a while and I kind of lost interest in the story and the characters involved. It's too bad because the 3 main actors (John Cusack, Billy Bob Thornton, Connie Nielsen) were really perfectly cast and they all gave some convincing performances. It was above all really nice to see Connie Nielsen as a femme fatale, a role she was definitely born to play. Still, even though it was a little bit disappointing, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 30 August 2011 01:27
(A review of U-571)Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I have a weak spot for the genre, I thought might as well give it a try. The main issue, in my opinion, is that U-boot movies are rather entertaining but they never reach the level of 'Das Boot', the ultimate U-boot flick. But still, like I said before, it is an entertaining genre so I thought I should check this one out as well. First of all, there was an interesting cast (Matthew McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Keitel) and this movie was made was back in those days when McConaughey was trying other things than romantic comedies and he was actually allright here. Of course, Bill Paxton and Harvey Keitel are always dependable and they delivered the goods as usual. Furthermore, there were some good action scenes and the whole thing was actually rather thrilling to watch. However, they unfortunately felt compelled to go way over the top with the story and then, the whole thing just felt unfortunately less compelling to watch at some point. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a well made and entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A very good movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 30 August 2011 01:12
(A review of Panic)Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since there was a pretty cool cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, to my surprise, I really loved the damned thing. Indeed, from time to time, you come across a real unknown and underrated gem especially when you are the least expecting it and this flick is a fine example. Of course, , since it was starring Donald Sutherland and William H. Macy, I thought it should be a decent movie but I didn't expect it to be such an amazing flick. Indeed, I have probably never come across such an original story about hit men and I thought that the whole thing was quite spellbinding to watch. Above all, Donald Sutherland and William H. Macy were both really awesome and they gave some tremendous performances. I also appreciated the depth of the characters, probably the result that the whole thing was very well written. When I think about it, it must be the best movie starring Neve Campbell I have seen so far but, on the other hand, she never had a really impressive career and she has showed up mostly in some underwhelming flicks. Anyway, to conclude, it is indeed not well known and pretty obscure but it is actually really good and definitely worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 30 August 2011 01:02
(A review of Casa de los babys)To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since John Sayles is an intriguing director and since there was a pretty decent cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Indeed, John Sayles is a rather underrated and unknown director here on Listal but I think his movies are always really interesting and this flick was a very good example. In my opinion, there was an original and interesting story and it featured an impressive female cast and they all delivered some solid performances (Daryl Hannah, Lili Taylor, Mary Steenburgen, Marcia Gay Harden, Maggie Gyllenhaal). Above all, I really enjoyed how 3 dimensional all those characters were represented and that's basically a quality you'll always find in most of John Sayles feature which makes his work really attractive to me. However, I have to admit it, even if the story was interesting, I was still not really fascinated by the proceedings and I kept wondering what was the point of all this. I guess, it is Sayles approach, to give you some flawed characters without judging them or their actions, and eventually, you have to make up your mind about them on your own. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn’t a masterpiece whatsoever, it was still an interesting flick and it is definitely worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 30 August 2011 12:52
(A review of Cheaper by the Dozen)To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it starred Steve Martin, I thought I should give it a try. Through the years, I kept trying with Steve Martin, I gave him the benefit of the doubt so many times but, eventually, I came to conclusion that most of his movies are actually rather worthless. I mean, he has made a few good movies, not many though, and I’m pretty sure I can count them on one hand (for a career including more than 40 movies and going over more than 3 decades, it is pretty pathetic in my opinion). Anyway, this time, we have here a tired remake of an old family feature and the end-result was pretty weak. The first question that you might ask is was the original version anything good to start with? I have seriously no idea and this remake is not really awful whatsoever but the whole thing was just purely routine. Indeed, the plot was not interesting, the characters were not interesting either, the jokes were not really funny and I really had a hard time to care about the whole thing. To conclude, it is a really average and boring flick and it is not really worth a look, I’m afraid.
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