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All reviews - Movies (7699) - TV Shows (10)

An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 10:28 (A review of Pitch Black)

Honestly, I have never been really impressed by Vin Diesel but I kept hearing good things about this flick so I thought I should check it out. At the time, Vin Diesel was hailed as the new action movie star and showed up in no less than 3 potential movie franchises back-to-back (‘Pitch Black’, ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and ‘xXx’). Fast forward more than 10 years later and those franchises are the only thing starring Diesel which are slightly successful (as a matter of fact, he showed up in 10 movies during this period and 6 of them were sequels to these franchises!). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, I thought it was not bad at all after all. Indeed, the story was rather entertaining, Vin Diesel was pretty convincing and the movie really looked pretty good. However, the whole thing was still not original enough to become a genuine good science-fiction flick in my opinion. I guess something was just missing to make it totally satisfying and I think it still looked too much like a B production to become really remarkable. Still, in spite of its flaws, there were a lot of things to enjoy here, it remains an entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look especially if you are interested in science-fiction movies


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A disappointing movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 10:12 (A review of The Glass House)

Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast, I thought I should it out and I thought it would be a rather decent thriller. Eventually, I was so disappointed by this movie. Seriously, how can you go wrong with such a cast (Diane Lane, Stellan Skarsgard, Leelee Sobieski)?!? The movie actually looked alright and the actors did the best they could with the material but the plot was such so idiotic, it made the whole thing rather painful to watch. It's too bad because it really had some potential but, at the end of the day, it is basically one of those far-fetched thrillers which go for the cheap thrills and stupid twists instead of providing a decent plot which made sense. While watching this, I felt above all bad about Leelee Sobieski. Indeed, at the end of the 90’s, she was one of the most interesting young actresses and it seemed that she had a bright future. Unfortunately, she kept making some rather dubious choices and there is not much left of those good promises. Coming back to our main feature, to conclude, I have seen worse but it still remain an average flick and I don’t think it is really worth a look, even if you are a fan of the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 10:05 (A review of Johnny Handsome)

Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Mickey Rourke, I thought I should give it a try. Back then in the 80's, Mickey Rourke was really popular, he was pretty high on the A list and this flick must have been made just before his career went down the drain.Basically, I thought it was a rather weird concept and I was above all impressed by the cast filled with interesting actors. Indeed, the movie itself, especially the plot, was basically a cheesy B movie and unfortunately, I'm not a big fan of this genre so I can't say I really enjoyed it (Apparently, Al Pacino was initially interested in playing the title character but ultimately dropped out of the project because he felt they had never been able to transcend the script's B-movie qualities). Personally, I think they made the best out of this concept and I’m not sure if they could have made something better out of this. On a side note, it was pretty neat to see Morgan Freeman just before he got his breakthrough (the same year, he would be seen as well in ‘Glory’ and, of course, ‘Driving Miss Daisy’).  To conclude, even though it remains a B feature, I thought it was not bad at all and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:59 (A review of The Chronicles of Riddick)

Since I was pleasantly surprised by 'Pitch Black', I thought I should check out this sequel. There was a time when Vin Diesel was hailed as the new action movie star and showed up in no less than 3 potential movie franchises back-to-back (‘Pitch Black’, ‘The Fast and the Furious’ and ‘xXx’). Back then, Diesel was rather arrogant and claimed he wasn’t interested in making sequels so he refused to come back for ‘2 Fast 2 Furious’ and ‘xXx: State of the Union’ and agreed to do only this sequel.  Fast forward more than 10 years later and those franchises are the only thing starring Diesel which are slightly successful (as a matter of fact, he showed up in 10 movies during this period and 6 of them were sequels to these franchises!). Anyway, coming back to our main feature, the most striking thing with this sequel is that it had barely anything to do with the original movie. Indeed, it looked different, the mood was different, the only thing that remained was the lead character who was still called 'Riddick'. Actually, I didn't mind that it was so different. Indeed, the movie looked very good with some kick ass action scenes. The main issue was that the story was rather weak and it didn't work out very well. Still, even though it was nothing really amazing, it was still a decent feature and I think it is worth a look especially if you are looking for some brainless SF action flick.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:52 (A review of The Wiz)

Honestly, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Sydney Lumet’s work, I still wanted to check it out. Honestly, I have never been a huge fan of the genre but it is probably one of the worst musicals I have ever seen. At the time, it was the most expensive film musical ever made but it turned out to be a flop and it was universally panned when it was released. Personally, I thought the whole thing was terribly misguided and the only interesting thing was to see Michael Jackson as an actor for once and before he became a massive pop star. Indeed, there was actually one scene that I really enjoyed and it was when Michael Jackson was singing solo and displaying his amazing dance moves. In my opinion, there was not much else to enjoy in this flick and, on top of that, it was agonizingly long (about 135 minutes) which didn’t help at all. To conclude, it looked pretty bad, the songs were rather lame and the whole thing was just boring so I don’t think it is really worth a look, even if you are fan of the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:43 (A review of Field of Dreams (1989))

Since I kept hearing some pretty good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations towards this feature. Well, to be honest, even though it turned out to be a decent watch, I really failed to see what was supposed to be so amazing about this movie and I seriously had a hard time to connect with the damned thing. I mean, sure, Kevin Costner was quite charismatic but this whimsical nostalgic tone was nothing for me. You might argue that the fact that I didn’t have much knowledge about baseball didn’t really help but I think the biggest issue I had, aside from this really sweet and gentle tone, was this mix with some fantasy elements. Eventually, the whole thing was some kind of fairy tale mixing some genuine vintage facts about baseball with a basic family drama but I’m afraid I never really cared enough for both aspects of this tale. In my opinion, it is a movie that is still pretty much a cult-classic but it remains a rather acquired taste. Anyway, to conclude, even though I didn’t really work for me, it was not bad and it is worth a look , especially if you like the genre. 



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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:37 (A review of The Phantom of the Opera)

Honestly, with Joel Schumacher, you never really know what you’ll get, a decent flick or something really terrible, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this movie. On top of that, I'm not a big fan of musicals so I was not really the best audience for a movie like this one. However, I thought it was actually not bad at all, quite gorgeous to look at and there were some nice songs. It was also fun to see Gerard Butler before he reached fame with ‘300’ and I thought he was actually quite convincing. Eventually, the big revelation in this movie was the charming and really talented Emmy Rossum who was just 16 years old when she made this movie. After watching this, I expected a lot from her but, unfortunately, 10 years later, we don’t hear much about her anymore which is quite a shame (on the other hand, if you pick up movies like ‘Dragonball Evolution’ and ‘Poseidon’, you can expect your career to take a dive). Coming back to our main feature, the main issue I had was with the story which I didn't find really compelling enough. I know, it is not the point here but without an interesting story, I get bored even when watching a musical. Still, in spite of its flaws, it is actually a decent flick and it is definitely worth a look especially if you are a fan of the genre. 


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:32 (A review of The Bow)

Honestly, Kim Ki-Duk must be the most frustrating director I know. I mean, the guy has a pretty good reputation and I keep watching his flicks (I have seen 4 of them by now) but, eventually, none of them succeeded in really blowing me away (I have to admit it, ‘Bin-jip’ was pretty good though). I can see that his movies are highly artistic and profound but I can't say I enjoy them. Among his work, this flick is so far the one that impressed me the least. I mean, it was actually not bad, the story was kind of interesting but sometimes rather plain boring. On top of that, the male lead character was such a despicable guy, in my opinion, it made the whole thing rather painful to watch and therefore, I had a rather hard time to care about the whole thing. The point is that with Kim Ki-Duk’s work, there is always a high level of philosophical sub-text which I always had a hard time to digest even with a movie like ‘Bom yeoreum gaeul gyeoul geurigo bom’ which is considered a masterpiece, and this time, it was even more difficult than usual to swallow. To conclude, even though I didn’t care much for it, it is definitely not a bad movie but it remains an acquired taste in my opinion. 


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An average movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:24 (A review of Guilty as Sin)

Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from the flick (with such a lame title, how could it be any good?!?) but since it was directed by the late Sidney Lumet, I thought I should give it a try. Even though Sidney Lumet had made maybe 4 or 5 real classics, he has also directed some really weak movies as well (‘The Wiz’ might be the worst in my opinion) and I have noticed that many consider this erotic thriller as being his very worst directing effort. Eventually, in spite of my poor expectations, I thought it was not bad at all. I mean, obviously, it was nothing amazing but, in this genre (the slimy erotic thriller) which has never been oscar worthy, I thought it was actually fairly entertaining. As usual, Rebecca de Mornay couldn’t really act and and she was still surfing on her new found fame she reached with ‘The Hand That Rocks the Cradle’ but I thought she actually had some great chemistry with Don Johnson and the story was pretty far-fetched but entertaining enough. Anyway, to conclude, it was nothing original whatsoever but I think it is a rather well made thriller and it is actually worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre.


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A good movie

Posted : 13 years, 4 months ago on 12 August 2011 09:11 (A review of North Country)

After ‘Monster’ and winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, Charlize Theron’s profile got pretty serious and since then, she has tried to reach that level again with some rather mixed results (on the other hand, if you compare her career with Hilary Swank's , one of the most disappointing actresses out there, she didn’t do so bad after all). Anyway, this time again, she goes for a feature which was obviously aiming for the Academy Awards but, when this movie came out, it was fairly unnoticed. Personally, I think it's pity since it was actually a pretty good flick. I mean, to be honest, it was not a very original story but I thought it was still a very well made and strong drama. Once again, Charlize Theron provided a very good perfomance as a white trash woman (since 'Monster', it seems that it has become some kind of speciality for her) and she was surrounded by a very good supporting cast. To conclude, even though it is pretty much forgotten nowadays, I think it is actually a really good drama and, in my opinion, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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