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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:29
(A review of Komt een vrouw bij de dokter (2009))I remember it very well, when this movie was released, it was a big box-office success in the Netherlands. Indeed, like many other movies in the Netherlands, it was an adaptation of a popular book. In fact, for once, I have read the book before watching the movie and I have to say, even though I enjoyed this movie, I still think the book was actually much better. The main reason why was actually pretty simple. Indeed, on one hand, you have Kluun who is a celebrated writer with a terrific writing style and, on the other hand, you have Reinout Oerlemans who had never before in his life directed a motion picture. As a result, this directing debut was pretty good but not really great, that's all. In my opinion, it could have been really edgier, more energetic and dynamic. I mean, we shouldn’t blame she actors since they were all very good, especially Carice van Houten who has been for many years already the best Dutch actress. Still, to be honest, towards the end of the movie, I thought she looked too well for someone who was actually dying. Anyway, all in all, I still enjoyed this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Dutch movies.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:20
(A review of Dangerous Minds (1995))Honestly, I wasn't expecting much from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Michelle Pfeiffer, I thought I might as well give it a try. I remember it quite well when it was released but I didn't see at the time and I remember also this damned song by Coolio (what happened to the guy by the way?!? Again another one hit wonder, I guess) which was all the time on the radio. Anyway, I thought this movie was not so bad after all. Indeed, Michelle Pfeiffer is a very nice and competent actress and, as expected, she did a good job on this picture but I'm afraid it wasn't enough though. Basically, it is one of those typical school dramas and even though it was rather well done and entertaining, it was not original at all and completely predictable. For this kind of the movie, to really stand out, they have to take some risks, like in 'Half Nelson' for example, to become truly compelling, otherwise, they just follow the formula which is always disappointing and that was definitely the case here. To conclude, even though it wasn't anything amazing whatsoever, I thought it was a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A great classic
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:17
(A review of 12 Angry Men)Since I kept hearing some really good things about this flick, I was really eager to check it out. Well, even though it is rather old, it has not lost any of its strengths, that’s for sure. Indeed, I think it took me maybe 5 minutes to get into this story as the whole thing turned out to be so spellbinding from the very start until the very end. In my opinion, it must be one of the purest movies I have ever seen. Indeed, you just had 12 guys stuck in a room, that's all what you will get and, in spite of these limitations, it was just completely entertaining. Basically, it is just about the power of words and acting. No effects, no tricks, just an incredible thoughtfull and intelligent picture. To be honest, I’m not really convinced that a whole jury would change its mind like this if only one of the juror would have some doubts but it was still so powerful with some fascinating and yet really realistic characters. It’s interesting that this movie has always been considered as an example on how great and democratic the judicial system is but, in fact, I thought it was actually rather scary. Indeed, in my opinion, it shows how people very often take decision with their guts and how you can change their mind just by twisting the evidence. Anyway, to conclude, it was a great watch, in fact, it is one of my favorite movies and it is definitely a must see for any decent movie buff.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:11
(A review of Kinky Boots)I wasn't really sure what to expect from this flick but since I always had a weak spot for Chiwetel Ejiofor, I was quite eager to check it out. In fact, it is rather amazing that even after '12 Years A Slave' managed to win the Best Picture Academy Award, the guy still seems to be completely underrated when he is easily one of the best actors of his generation. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, to be honest, I don't think the story was really original or great whatsoever. I mean, sure, it was entertaining but it was basically the old gimmick of the fish-out-of-water context, something we have seen so many times before. Still, I enjoyed this feature for what it was and it is probably thanks to Chiwetel Ejiofor who gave, as usual, an amazing perfomance. Indeed, everything he does is never a disappointment, this movie is no expection and from the moment he is on the screen, you really think that you are watching something special and without him, I'm afraid the whole thing would have been just another average British comedy with a realistic social background. To conclude, even though it is nothing amazing whatsoever, it is actually a pretty good comedy and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A good movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:06
(A review of The Land Before Time)I remember it very well, I saw this movie as a kid in the movie theater when it came out ane, at the time, I was really impressed. At the time, Disney was going through one of their weakest periods and Don Bluth was ruling, for a little while, the animation world. With a lot of nostalgia, I saw it again recently and even though it didn’t really blow me away this time, I thought it was still pretty good. Don bluth always managed to create some epic animated features (see also 'An American Tail') and the whole thing looked really good. Concerning the plot, it was entertaining enough but, to be honest, I think it is more enjoyable for the youngsters. Eventually, they would make about a dozen of sequels (I think my step-son collected everyone of them) , I haven't seen any of these sequels but, if I'm not mistaken, Don Bluth was not involved in any of them and they looked even more made for the very young childen so I don't think I have missed much. Anyway, to conclude, it is still a pretty good animated feature and a must see for any animation fans, especially if you're interested in Don Bluth's work.
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A classic
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:03
(A review of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner)Since this movie has a stellar reputation, I was really eager to check it out. First of all, it is important to remember that this movie was made already 50 years ago and, back in those days, the story was actually quite ground-breaking. Indeed, even if it seems hard to believe, at the time, it was actually forbidden by the law to marry someone white if you were black and the other way around in 14 states so, only for this reason, this movie was really important and should be respected. Still, I’m afraid, it feels rather outdated nowadays and all the characters were stereotypical, full of clichés and the whole thing was rather predictable. Still, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is a good movie . Like I said before, you have to keep in mind that telling such a story at the end of the 60's was really daring. Eventually, almost 40 years later, they made a remake starring Bernie Mac, Ashton Kutcher and Zoe Saldana and this time they reversed the racial roles but it wasn’t really as smart as they expected it to be. To conclude, coming back to our main feature, even though it didn’t grow old very well, it is still an interesting picture and it is definitely worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 12:00
(A review of 2012)Wow!! Already 21 reviews for this movie! At least, you have to admit that it has somehow inspired the listal users. Anyway, I actually saw it in the movie theater when it was released and both my two older kids really wanted to see it so it seems that there was really something appealing about this flick. First of all, why did they release this movie in 2009 and not in 2012? In fact, the best would have been to release it at the end of 2011 but whatever... Anyway, eventually, I thought it was not bad after all. Of course, the whole thing was completely preposterous but that's something inherent to the genre of disaster movies. With this genre, it is all about the mayhem and destruction and, this time, it was definitely spectacular and well done. Sure, they really went over the top (you have here a real natural disasters grand slam : earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanos, fireballs....) so it is so much that, at some point, you stop really to care about what's going on the screen (as if you really cared to start with) . In this genre and from the same director, I really preferred 'The Day After Tomorrow' but still, even though, it is far from being my favorite disaster movie, it's still rather entertaining and I think it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 08:59
(A review of Eagle Eye)Nowadays, Shia LaBeouf has arguably one of the worst reputations in the business but there was a time when the guy was considered as the new ’it-boy’ of the box-office. As a result, he made 5 blockbusters in a row and this movie was basically one of them. The first interesting thing about this movie, compared to his other blockbusters, is that it didn’t belong to a known brand and it was at least something original. However, after watching this movie, I still wasn’t really sure what to make of the damned thing. Indeed, on one hand, there were definitely some really spectacular scenes and I was quite entertained, at least, during the first half of the movie. On the other hand, the story was seriously preposterous. In fact, it didn't really bother me at the beginning but, from the moment that you finally learned what the hell was actually going on, the whole thing became then pretty damned average, I’m afraid. Concerning D.J. Caruso, I always had a weak spot for this director but his follow-up, the ambitious ‘I Am Number Four’, turned out to be a commercial and critical flop and, since then, his career has been somewhat struggling which is too bad. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I thought it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like such mindless blockbusters.
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A bad movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 4 May 2011 06:58
(A review of Fighting Fish)I wasn't sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Chantal Janzen, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, if you check the ratings for this movie on IMDB, you will notice that it looks pretty abysmal and, indeed, the whole thing was just a massive failure. I actually remember it, when it was released, there was some buzz about it because it was the very first martial arts film produced in the Netherlands. So, you can say that they did try something new which is something that happen not very often in the Dutch movie industry but, unfortunately, it turned out to be pretty awful, I'm afraid. Indeed, the acting was pretty bad and pathetic, the story had already been done like 1000 times before and it was completely predictable. The worst thing is that the fighting scenes were actually not even entertaining. Indeed, they were in fact rather badly shot and edited and, above all, just flat boring to behold. At least, Chantal Janzen did look pretty cute back in those days but that was obviously not enough to save this turkey. To conclude, even though the whole thing had some potential, the end-result was just really pathetic and you should pretty much avoid it.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 3 May 2011 08:10
(A review of The Other Boleyn Girl)Even though I wasn't sure what to expect from this movie, I still wanted to check it out though. Honestly, there was loads of good stuff in this movie. First of all, it looked gorgeous. Then, the cast was very interesting as well(Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Eric Bana, Kristin Scott Thomas, Juno Temple, Jim Sturgess, Mark Rylance, Benedict Cumberbatch, Eddie Redmayne, Andrew Garfield...) and even though I had some doubts about Portman and Johansson portraying sisters, they actually pulled it off quite well. However, the damned thing was far from being flawless, I’m afraid. Indeed, they tried to make it look like a drama but the end-result was often more like a soap opera, a gorgeous soap opera maybe but still a soap opera. Also, I wasn't really convinced by the portrayal of the king. I don't think it was really Eric Bana's fault but I think this character was just badly written. For example, what were his motivations? It was not clear whatsoever and he seemed take some actions only to allow the plot to move along. Furthermore, during the second half, the only thing he did was basically sitting in a corner and looking pissed off. To conclude, it was definitely not a masterpiece but I think it was a very well made costume drama and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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