Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 20 April 2011 02:12
(A review of
Pineapple Express (2008))
In my opinion, it is the best stoner movie ever made and I would go even further and say that it is hands-down the best movie created by the Judd Apatow gang. Indeed, I thought it was actually way better than âThe 40 year Old Virginâ, âSuperbadâ or âKnocked Upâ. Yesterday, I saw it again with my wife and, even though she really didnât like it all, I thought it was just hilarious. Of course, it is not really a masterpiece but I was surprised by how effective the whole thing was and it has been a while since I laughed so much. Eventually, if you have ever smoked some weed, there is no way you canât relate with those guys and, for me, the whole thing was just completely relatable making for a very satisfying watch. And if you watch it stoned, this movie goes to a whole different level resulting in me basically crying in laughter. Of course, there was also the usual annoying Apatow gimmick consisting of having a loser like Rogen hanging out with an incredibly hot girl (Amber Heard in this case) but, fortunately, it wasnât a big issue in this movie. To conclude, even though it might be an acquired taste, I thought it was a great comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 20 April 2011 01:28
(A review of
The One )
I have tried to watch a couple of movies starring Jet Li but, pretty much like with Jackie Chan, I thought that most of his US productions were seriously underwhelming so I didnât have some really huge expectations before watching this flick. Well, I have to admit that that they came up with a pretty cool concept but, unfortunately, I was still not really convinced by the end-result though. I mean, sure, when Jet Li was fighting, I have to admit it, he really kicked some major ass but when he was acting Iâm sorry but the guy was just terrible... Of course, the guy was not helped by the lame dialogues. At least, it was pretty neat to see Jason Statham in one of his first movies, before he became one of the biggest action movie stars in the world but, to be honest, I thought he gave here one of his worst performances. Concerning James Wong, after âFinal Destinationâ, it was another flawed but interesting directing effort but, a few years later, his directing career would be forever ruined with the terrible âDragonball Evolutionâ. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, you may enjoy it more that I did if you are a die hard  fan of Jet Liâs work but, otherwise, I would suggest to avoid it.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 20 April 2011 12:52
(A review of
Serenity)
The first interesting thing to note about this movie is that, even though the TV-show âFireflyâ was cancelled after the 1st season, it still managed to become a major cult-classic afterwards. The fans eventually never managed to re-launch this TV-show but, somehow, they still managed to get this feature film adaptation but guess what? It turned out to be a flop at the box-office so you can be sure that this concept is pretty much buried by now. Anyway, to be honest, before watching this movie, I have to admit that I actually never saw âFireflyâ so I was not familiar at all with this world and I wasnât really sure what to expect from the damned thing. Eventually. I thought it was actually rather well done and I Â did like the way they created this futuristic universe. I have to confess, I was sometimes slightly confused by the story but I was still able to follow the different plots but I wasn't really convinced by the acting or the dialogues which sounded sometimes rather corny. I know, it was probably done on purpose but it was just not my kind of thing. Actually, I watched this movie above all because there was Chiwetel Ejiofor in it and he didn't disappoint me. Indeed, every time the guy was on the screen, he pretty much completely stole the show. To conclude, I donât think it was really a masterpiece but it is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 19 April 2011 11:49
(A review of
Heavyweights)
To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick since I have a weak spot for Ben Stiller, I thought I might as well give it a try. First of all, it is interesting to point out that even though Judd Apatow got his big breakthrough only in 2005 with his directing debut âThe 40 Year Old Virginâ, in fact, he started 10 years before and this movie was actually the very first movie he produced and wrote. To be honest, it was far from the best work produced by the Apatow factory but I thought it was still a rather harmless and actually fairly entertaining comedy. On top of that, I donât know if you have noticed, from time to time, Ben Stiller plays a psychotic/sociopath weirdos and this movie was another example of this trend but, to be honest, Iâm not sure if he is really hilarious when playing this kind of characters. Anyway, to conclude, it was nothing great whatsoever, I have to admit that it was still rather funny and entertaining and I think it is worth a look, especially if you're a Ben Stiller fan or if you went to see Apatowâs work before he became a household name.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 19 April 2011 11:42
(A review of
The Three Caballeros)
Honestly, I wasnât expecting much from this flick but since it is one of the famous Disney Classics, I was still eager to check it out. Basically, it is one of the most obscure animated movies made by Disney, it was made during the 2nd World War and you can feel that the budget was not as big as before. On top of that, it didnât have one storyline but it was composed of sketches all dealing with South American (Apparently, this movie and âSaludos Amigosâ were created by Disney in order to improve the US relations with South American countries during World War II). I know, the whole thing doesnât sound really fun and, indeed, it wasnât great and we were far from the impressive productions of âSnow White and the Seven Dwarfsâ, âPinocchioâ or âBambiâ but I still think it was a decent watch and, at least, it was better than âSaludos Amigosâ which was really weak. Personally, I thought that the trio of Donald, JosĂ© Carioca and Panchito was pretty cool and it is too bad that JosĂ© Carioca and Panchito didnât manage to become some common Disney characters. Anyway, to conclude, it is not a great movie whatsoever but I still think it is worth a look, especially you love Disney features.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 19 April 2011 11:05
(A review of
The Red Violin)
To be honest, it is quite an obscure feature but since it has some really good ratings on Imdb (7.8), I was really intrigued and I really wanted to check it out. Eventually, I thought it was a very peculiar movie but in a really good way. Indeed, for once, the main character was not a man, a woman or even a child but, in fact, an object, a red violin. I'm not even sure if you can call it a character... Anyway, it was definitely the center of this mesmerizing story. Basically, you follow this violin through four centuries and five different countries and, even though the whole thing was obviously rather far-fetched, I thought that all these 5 tales were quite fascinating to behold. Except for Samuel L. Jackson, there was no stars but I made it even easier to focus on the journey of this special music instrument. Eventually, the director of this movie, François Girard, would come back 10 years later with another costume drama, âSilkâ, starring Keira Knightley, but unfortunately, it was rather disappointing. Anyway, to conclude, it is a shame that this movie is really unknown, I think it is a very good drama, something very original, and it is definitely worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 19 April 2011 10:59
(A review of
It's a Wonderful Life)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back, I thought I might as well check it out again. Well, to be honest, I was surprised by how little I actually remembered it. Seriously, except for the last act, I basically remembered nothing at all so Iâm really glad I rewatched the damned thing. Basically, it is a very long and rather slow built-up to show that, even though he always did the right thing, George Bailey was after all an average man. As a result, even though he got married with the cutest girl in town, had 4 beautiful children and the respect and love of his community, he still fell in despair because he kept giving up on his dreams time and time again to help out everyone around him. Thatâs why I understand better this movie now. Indeed, Capra had to show both sides of the main character and the end-result was quite complex and even rather fairly depressing. Of course, thatâs not how this movie did end though. Indeed, the only thing I could remember was this powerful ending and, each time I watch this movie, it really hits me like a bus. Even though Iâm just an old cynical bastard and there is no way something so cheesy should have worked with him, I was actually so touched by the damned thing. Eventually, I had seen a couple of movies directed by Frank Capra such as âIt Happened One Nightâ and âMr. Deeds Goes to Townâ and, to be honest, even though I did like those movies, I canât say I was really blown away by them. Well, it must be the greatest classic directed by Frank Capra and even though I'm not a huge fan of his work, I have to recognize that this movie is a great achievement. Anyway, to conclude, this story is really timeless and it is a must see for any film lover, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 19 April 2011 10:53
(A review of
Between Strangers)
To be honest, it is quite an obscure flick, I was the 2nd listal who rated it and nowadays, not even 10 users have apparently seen it, even including the fake ratings. Still, even though it was quite obscure, since there was a very interesting cast (Sophia Loren, Mira Sorvino, Deborah Kara Unger, Pete Postlethwaite, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Malcolm McDowell, GĂ©rard Depardieu,...), I was quite eager to check it out. In fact, I discovered this much later but the director Edoardo Ponti was in fact Sophia Lorenâs son. Anyway, even though the whole thing had some potential and in spite of this interesting cast, the movie still failed to impress me. I mean, the acting and the directing were all pretty good but the different stories were not spellbinding enough. Eventually, I think I watched the damned thing above all because I had a weak spot for Mira Sorvino had the time and I thought she did a decent job in this movie but, to be honest, it has been a while that Sorvino has made anything really impressive. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I still think it was a decent drama and I think it is worth a look though.
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 19 April 2011 07:25
(A review of
The Fall of the Roman Empire)
To be honest, I wonder how I actually ended up watching this flick but, I guess, it was because there was a pretty cool cast involved. Apparently, after the success of âEl Cidâ, they decided to make another movie directed by Anthony Mann and starring Charlton Heston and Sophia Loren but, apparently, Heston didnât get along at all with Loren on that film and he refused to work with her again. Well, even though this movie was better than âEl Cidâ, at least, as far as I was concerned, eventually, it turned out to be a huge flop when it came out. Anyway, the directing was actually pretty good and the whole thing was rather well made with some gorgeous costumes and settings. Unfortunately, I didnât care much for the dialogues and the acting was too much theatrical for my taste. Concerning Sophia Loren, to be honest, I'm not really familiar with her work but, even though I have to admit that she did look quite gorgeous, I canât say she really impressed me though. Anyway, to conclude, even though it didnât really blow me away, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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Posted : 13 years, 8 months ago on 18 April 2011 08:55
(A review of
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007))
Since this movie won the prestigious Golden Palm at Cannes film festival, I was really eager to check it out. As expected, it was really a depressing movie and Iâm not sure if I will re-watch it any time soon but, to be honest, I don't really mind. Obviously, if you're looking for a feel-good entertaining movie, you should look somewhere else though. Indeed, there is no doubt that that this story was quite heartbreaking. Of course, it was a drama but, as a matter of fact, I thought it actually felt almost like a thriller sometimes as I was really wondering most of the time what was going to happen next. The directing was not flashy at all, it was in fact very sober but it was probably the best way to handle this subject. After this movie, Cristian Mungiu went to direct some other movies which were also very well received but I havenât seen them to be honest and, at the time, there was some claim about a New Romanian Cinema but, to be honest, we donât hear much from this anymore. To conclude, it was a pretty tough watch but I still think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you donât mind feeling quite depressed after a watching a movie.
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