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CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 August 2011 07:37
(A review of The Bridge of San Luis Rey)Even though he is way past his prime, I still try to watch all the movies starring Robert De Niro. This movie is probably one of the most obscure he has made in the last decade but it was not one of his worst (alright, it doesnât mean much nowadaysâŠ). I hadn't heard much about this flick but I was rather intrigued since there was a rather impressive cast (F. Murray Abraham, Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne, Geraldine Chaplin, Robert De Niro, Ămilie Dequenne, Harvey Keitel, Samuel Le Bihan, Dominique Pinon). Unfortunately, even though the story was intriguing, I can't say I was really fascinated by the whole thing and eventually, I was rather underwhelmed. The point is that I donât really get what all these actors saw in this story. I mean, when you see all these names on the cover, you expect some massive work of Art, an award pretender, but, eventually, you get a rather tedious affair. After making some research, I found out it was based on a very acclaimed book of the same title, a book which has been adapted already twice before. So, maybe the book was great but this adaptation was rather forgettable. Still, in spite of its flaws, it remains a decent watch and I think it is worth a look somehow but donât expect anything really amazing.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 August 2011 07:29
(A review of High Plains Drifter)Since Iâm huge fan of Clint Eastwoodâs work, I was really eager to check this flick. First of all, it was not surprising that for his sophomore directing effort Clint Eastwood decided to direct a Western. Back in those days, it was the genre he was the most associated with and it was pretty much compulsory that Eastwood would star in all his directing effort otherwise the studio wouldnât back his projects. As a result, Eastwood had to also play the lead in most of the movies he directed even he was solely interested in directing the damned thing. Anyway, back to our main feature, Clint Eastwood is the last Western living legend and it has always been a pleasure to see him kick some ass. To be honest, this flick was nothing really original whatsoever but it was very well made and entertaining enough. Out of the 4 Westerns he has directed, it was probably the least interesting one but it doesnât mean it was bad, not at all. To conclude, I thought it was a pretty good movie, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are looking for a good old-fashioned Western directed by and starring the great Clint Eastwood.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 August 2011 07:20
(A review of Suspect (1987))Honestly, I wasnât sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, the mood was well set and there was a good cast (Cher, Dennis Quaid and Liam Neeson who was still rather unknown at the time). Furthermore, I thought that Cher and Dennis Quaid had a pretty good chemistry, even though it was rather disappointing that they still ended up together. Basically, it is a typical whodunit and, even though it was actually rather entertaining thanks to the intriguing characters and the work provided by the actors, the conclusion was rather underwhelming. I mean, to start with, since it is a thriller, you have the usual annoying twist and routine action scene at the end and the whole conclusion was not really satisfying (Roger Ebert further developed this failure in his own review) but it didn't ruin the movie for me. To conclude, it is nothing really original or amazing whatsoever but I thought it was a well done and entertaining thriller and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A surprising movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 August 2011 06:54
(A review of Three Fugitives)Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick. Basically, it is once again one of those remakes of a popular French comedy (it is usually not a good omen...) and the fact that I found Martin Short most of the time really obnoxious didnât help either. Eventually, I must admit it, it was not bad at all after all which was rather surprising. Short was indeed rather annoying but he didn't ruin the movie and there were actually many over the top and really hilarious scenes. I wonder if I saw the original French movie starring GĂ©rard Depardieu and Pierre Richard (I used to find him hilarious when I was a kid). Back then, Francis Veber (who also directed this remake) made 3 movies back-to-back with those guys and these movies were big successes in France. There is a fair chance that the original was actually much better but I was still really entertained by this US version which displays the versatility of Nick Nolte, a great thespian and probably one of the most underrated actors ever. To conclude, even though it is far from being a masterpiece, I think it was decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 August 2011 06:28
(A review of Frankenstein)When it came out, more than 15 years ago, I saw this flick at the movie theater and, yesterday, I finally saw it again. Back then, the expectations were pretty high but it was not very well received. Indeed, this movie has a rather poor reputation but I think it is actually pretty good. First of all, I just love how baroque and decadent the whole thing looked like. Furthermore, in my opinion, the cast provided some good performances and I especially enjoyed John Cleese who was barely recognizable and, for once , he wasn't funny whatsoever but he was still pitch perfect. And obviously, it is and remains a classic but it is still quite a fascinating story. However, I have to admit it, the movie does loose some steam and focus especially during the 2nd half. On top of that, the whole thing did seem to be a huge ego-trip for Kenneth Branagh (he was the director, the lead actor and he spent way to much time without his shirt on showing off his marvelous abs). Anyway, to conclude, it is indeed far from being a masterpiece but I still think it is an interesting and entertaining adaptation and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 August 2011 09:39
(A review of Angels & Demons)Back then, when 'The Da Vinci code' was released, everybody trashed it but I thought it was a little bit exaggerated. In my opinion, the main issue was that the book itself wasn't actually that great for starters. Furthermore, basically half of the book is about Robert Langdon explaining some historical facts or legends which is fine on paper but quite tricky to translate on the silver screen. Anyway, I went to see this sequel with an open mind (I even saw it in the theater somehow) and I was actually positively surprised. Indeed, it was definitely more focused than the first movie and I was rather captivated by the whole story, at least until the end. Of course, the whole thing was rather preposterous but there was something quite awesome about making a thriller in the Vatican, mixing some historical facts, myths and some good old blockbuster action scenes. Unfortunately, in my opinion, the end was so over the top, seriously, my mouth fell wide open. Whereas the rest of the movie was pretty strong, this ending was just really disappointing and actually did ruin the whole thing for me. Anyway, to conclude, it is definitely not a masterpiece but I still think it is a well made and entertaining thriller and I believe it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 August 2011 09:34
(A review of Erik of het klein insectenboek)Ever since I have been living in the Netherlands, I have been interested in the Dutch movies. In the 10 years I have been there, I have seen many movies and, I have to admit it, the Dutch movie industry is not really impressive. For example, every year, only a few Dutch movies manage to make a splash at the box-office and not really because they are really great. Indeed, one of the leading genres is the family feature which has been quite successful for many years. Personally, I think it has to do with the fact that, in the Netherlands, except for the animated features, all the movies remain in their native language and if the parents wants to watch with their kids a live action feature for a change, they basically have to watch a Dutch movie. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, it is basically another average Dutch kids flick. I mean, the special effects looked terribly lame and, above all, the story was just plain boring. On a positive note, it was kind of neat and cute that they tried to make a movie about insects but the end result was rather underwhelming. To conclude, it is a really average flick and it is not really worth a look, except maybe if you are under 6 years old.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 August 2011 09:26
(A review of Hearts in Atlantis)Since I'm a big fan of Anthony Hopkins, I try to watch all his movies whenever I get the chance so I was really eager to check this movie. On the other hand, I have always been rather underwhelmed by Stephen Kingâs book adaptations so I wasn't sure what to expect. First of all, I really liked the look, the pace and the general mood of the movie which was very well directed by Scott Hicks who was also responsible for âShineâ. Furthermore, Hopkins but also Yelchin and Hope Davis all gave some very good performances. Unfortunately, I had a rather hard time to care about the story which was far from being really fascinating. Somehow, it reminded me of âThe Green Mileâ, another Stephen King story with a rather realistic background but still with a small dash of paranormal. In my opinion, Kingâs best stories were the realistic ones like âThe Shawshank Redemptionâ or âStand by meâ (which both came from the same book as a matter of fact) and as soon as he starts to add some fantastic elements, those stories become much less intriguing, at least, thatâs my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I still think it is worth a look though, especially if you are interested in Stephen Kingâs work.
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A good but overrated movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 August 2011 09:19
(A review of Shine)I already saw this movie but since it was such a while ago, I thought I might as well check it out again. To be honest, I always had some mixed feelings about this movie. Indeed, back in those days, there was a huge buzz about this flick and, thanks to this feature, Geoffrey Rush's career finally took off (he even got an oscar for his performance) and he became afterwards a familiar face in many popular movies. It also launched the career of Scott Hicks who has been working in the US ever since even though none of his other movies have been really successful. Still, even if Geoffrey Rush was really strong, I wasnât completely convinced by the rest of the movie. The first thing that I found rather odd was that, even though this movie was dealing with a mentally unstable man (thatâs clearly an understatement), they spent actually very little time on his life following his breakdown and the time he might have spent in the psychiatric system. In fact, during the first half focusing on David Helfgott as a kid and as a young man, even though he was displayed as rather fragile, there was nothing much indicating that he was so mentally unstable. On the other hand, you could argue that the years of training and the huge amount of pressure might have eventually triggered his mentall illness. Eventually, instead of focusing on David himself and what was going on in his mind, they spent a huge amount of time arguing that his father was the bad guy in this story but that didnât really work either. First of all, his behaviour didnât really make sense as he first pushed his son to become a great pianist and, then, suddenly, he tried to stop him to go abroad to expand even more his career but why? Because he was jealous maybe? It was never clear and, in fact, many family members claimed that, in real life, the only reason he stopped David for going abroad was because he was actually worried about his mental health which made more sense than what was displayed in this movie. Furthermore, even if he would have been a huge pain in the ass, David eventually had his major mental breakdown when he was abroad and when his father was far away so, to constanly blame his old man was the wrong approach in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude in spite of its flaws, it was still an interesting story with a very strong performance by Geoffrey Rush and it is definitely worth a look.
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A surprising movie
Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 16 August 2011 09:06
(A review of Switchback)Honestly, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast, I thought I might as well give it a try. Eventually, I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, it is a rather forgotten and unknown thriller but it's actually too bad since it was actually quite entertaining. Indeed, this flick was rather well made and I thought that the tension was very well built up. Furthermore, all the actors involved (Dennis Quaid, Danny Glover, Jared Leto, R. Lee Ermey, William Fichtner) delivered some solid performances. Of course, since we are dealing with a thriller and since it is inherent to the genre, there were some improbable and annoying twist(s) but, somehow, it didn't bother me that much this time. Afterwards, I have discovered that this movie was the directing debut of Jeb Stuart whose name might not sound familiar but it is actually the guy who wrote âDie Hardâ, one of the best action movies ever made and, in this movie, there were also very nice scenes as well so it figures. To conclude, even though it is nothing groundbreaking whatsoever, it is actually an entertaining thriller and I think is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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