Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 21 March 2011 04:40
(A review of
In Which We Serve)
To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was David Leanâs directing debut, I was really eager to check it out. Indeed, it is very old, more than 70 years old as a matter of fact, and yet it is still pretty good even compared to more current movies. Basically, it follows a British Naval ship and you get to see the tale going from its construction to its sinking during action in World War II and you get to learn the survivors through some flashbacks. It was a rather straighforward approach but I thought it was really effective. Even though the whole thing was a Noel Coward project (he was directing, writing the damned thing and also playing the lead), this movie would be mostly remembered as David Lean's directing debut (Apparently, Coward was nervous about this directing debut and someone suggested him to work with David Lean who was considered at the time as the best editor in the UK) . After this picture, Lean would go on making some of the biggest classics in motion picture history. To conclude, even though it was nothing really amazing, I thought it was still a decent war feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in David Leanâs work.
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Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 21 March 2011 04:29
(A review of
Child's Play)
Since this horror flick had a pretty good reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, to be honest, I had some rather mix feelings about the whole thing. Indeed, in my opinion, it was not really scary and, above all, when you think about it for a minute, it has in fact a rather stupid premise which I found rather difficult to take seriously. Indeed, even though a doll can look pretty creepy, can it be a real threat? Iâm not so sure. Still, I think they managed to get most of this rather preposterous concept, the whole thing had its charms and it remains one of the 80's classic horror movies. In fact, it is rather surprising that they have not come up with a reboot since most of those horror flicks have been rebooted by now. Apparently, Don Mancini, the creator of this franchise, was in fact actually planning to make a reboot but, somehow, they still ended up with another sequel which was a direct-to-dvd release (âCurse of Chuckyâ). Anyway, to conclude, even though I wasnât completely impressed, it remains a classic in this genre and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you're a horror fan.
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Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 21 March 2011 02:04
(A review of
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford (2007))
Since I really loved âChopperâ and since this movie was very well received, I was really eager to check it out and I had some really high expectations about the damned thing. Well, first of all, it was really a gorgeous movie and if only for this you should watch it. Then, Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck both gave some really good perfomances. So, I really liked this movie but, to be honest, it  didn't really blow me though. Why? First of all, the whole thing was rather long (2 h 30 min) and I have heard that the original version was even 4 hours! In fact, the running time was not really an issue but the main problem was more that nothing much really happened during this movie. I mean, they robbed a train at the beginning and that was it. After that, you just see them going somewhere, you don't know exactly where they go or why they go there but it didn't really matter. So, they get together and sometimes they eat. And of course, they speak to each other but they never have some straight dialogues and, instead, they always speak in riddles or stories... Fortunately, you do have a voice-over explaining from time to time what was going on and what the characters were thinking... Anyway, as a result, I canât say it was really amazed by this tale though. To conclude, even though it didn't completely worked for me, it was still a decent watch and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. Â
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Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 19 March 2011 03:14
(A review of
Summerspell)
I donât know if you have noticed but I tend to be extremely obsessive about my movie watching and, on a regular basis, I end up watching some really obscure movies just because some actor I like happen to have a really small part in it. This movie is a perfect example. Indeed, it is probably one of the most obscure movies I have ever seen, Iâm actually the only one who has seen this movie in Listal and the only reason I ended up watching the damned thing was because Sean Penn was in it but just for 30 seconds maybe. I actually wonder when they actually shot this movie because Sean Penn seemed very young, much younger than in âTapsâ, his official acting debut. Anyway, about the movie itself, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing. I mean, the directing was not bad and the actors delivered some solid performances but, to be honest, Â I was just bored to death by the whole thing. Basically, it was some kind of indie drama which tried to be deep and thoughtful but it never managed to grab my attention. Anyway, to conclude, even though I have seen worse, I thought it was pretty weak and I donât think it is really worth a look.Â
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Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 19 March 2011 12:23
(A review of
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009))
When I first hear about this movie. I became quite curious about the damned thign because it was directed by Wes Anderson but also skeptical because I'm not a huge fan of Roald Dhal's work. On top of that,  even though I admired so far Wes Anderson's work, I have to admit that I actually always had a hard time to connect with his movies. Indeed, they always looked rather impressive and there was always this interesting quirky mood but, so far, it all felt rather superficial to me. Well, at last, with this flick, the guy finally managed to blow me away. Indeed, there was in fact  no reason to worry and it was much better than I expected. Basically,  it was one of the most original animated movies I have ever seen,  it really looked gorgeous and I just loved the dialogues and all these funny characters. I especially loved the first half which was pretty much pitch perfect and really hilarious and, while it lost some steam during the second half, it was still pretty damned entertaining.  By now, I have seen this movie so many times and it gets better each time again in my opinion. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved the damned thing, it is in my opinion the best thing delivered by Wes Anderson so far and it is definitely worth a look,  especially if you like the genre.Â
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Posted : 13 years, 9 months ago on 18 March 2011 12:58
(A review of
State of Play)
When I first heard of this movie, I thought it sounded really amazing. As a result, I was really eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations towards the damned thing. Well, to be honest, I thought the whole thing turned out to be actually rather disappointing. I mean, sure, it was entertaining enough but the story was nothing really original. Basically, it was your typical conspiracy based thriller but there was still some good stuff. First of all, I thought it was well done. Indeed, I liked the way it was directed and it was rather well written, especially the newspaper work which seemed very realistic and exciting (it reminded me of âAll the president's menâ, by far the best movie in this genre). Then, the cast was very good and they all gave some solid good performances. Two things bothered me though. One small thing was that Robin Wright had a very thankless role. To make things worse, her romance with Russell Crowe was rather unnecessary and it didn't add much to the story. The other major thing that really bothered me and actually pretty much ruined the movie was the end. I won't spoil it but there was this very lame twist at the end and even though it was supposed to be clever, it was really annoying and it actually shattered the whole story. Anyway, to conclude, even though it never really fulfilled its great potential, I guess this movie is still worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 March 2011 01:50
(A review of
Click)
Honestly, I donât really hate any actors or actress but, I have to admit it, Adam Sandler really gets on my nerves. By now, somehow, I have managed to watch more than 20 of his movies and most of them were pretty pathetic. With this in mind, I wasnât expecting much with this flick, even though, at least, the premise had some potential. Unfortunately, as usual with Sandler, the execution was just lame. First of all, when you think about it, they barely used the concept and Sandler doesn't really do much with this remote and, basically, in the second half of the movie, he only fast-forwards his life and that's it. Eventually, Adam Sandler has done much worse since then, this flick doesnât belong to his worst features and the concept was at least intriguing but I thought it was just terribly lazy and underwhelming. To conclude, I thought it was a very forgettable movie but it didn't stop Adam Sandler in his winning streak (indeed, it was somehow another success at the box-office and at least until 2010, it was Sandlerâs highest grossing film at the worldwide box office.) but, even though the whole thing was rather harmless, I still donât think it is really worth a look.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 March 2011 01:47
(A review of
50 First Dates (2004))
Most of the time, I found Adam Sandler rather obnoxious and I have a really hard time enjoying his flicks. Indeed by now, I have seen 2/3 of his movies and most of them were just appalling. However, he has made a few decent movies and this one is definitely one of them. Once again, like most of his features, there was a concept behind the whole thing but, somehow, it actually worked. Indeed, when you think about it, it is pretty much like a romantic version of Memento and I actually enjoyed it. And considering the box-office gross, I wasn't the only one. It would be the 2nd time that Drew Barrymore and Adam Sandler were working together (they are currently working on a 3rd movie) and it was much better than the abysmal âThe Wedding Singerâ. Of course, it was still nothing really mind-blowing but I thought it was a nice surprise and I thought it was rather enjoyable. For once, the general sweetness in Adam Sandlerâs work was not overshadowed by the overwhelming number of gross and moronic jokes. To conclude, in my opinion, even though it was no masterpiece whatsoever, it was a major improvement on your average Adam Sandlerâs production and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 March 2011 01:36
(A review of
Anger Management)
Even though I donât really care about Adam Sandler, since Iâm a huge fan of Jack Nicholson, I still wanted to check this flick. I have to admit that it was a pretty cool idea to make a flick about a subject such as anger management with Jack Nicholson as therapist, that was a brilliant start. Unfortunately, even though most of Sandlerâs movies start up with a good, or at least, a decent idea, the execution is a totally different matter, Iâm afraid. At least, this time, I enjoyed most of it, which is not something I can say about all the Sandler vehicles. Indeed, there was a pretty cool cast (Jack Nicholson, Marisa Tomei, Luis GuzmĂĄn, January Jones, John Turturro, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly) and there were some funny scenes, definitely. It was above all pretty neat to see the great Jack Nicholson in such a wacky comedy. Unfortunately, like any other feature starring Adam Sandler, there is here a total lack of ambition or even interest to lift up the whole thing to something better, more challenging, and instead it usually goes for the cheap laughs throughout the whole thing. Still, I have to admit, it is one of the better Sandler flicks I have seen, it is a decent comedy and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 13 years, 10 months ago on 17 March 2011 01:29
(A review of
Punch-Drunk Love)
Honestly, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it whenever I have the opportunity. Anyway, I remember very well when it was released, back then, I was expecting a lot from this movie. Not because of Sandler (by now, I have seen most of his movies and his whole gimmick is pretty lame in my opinion) but because it was directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, probably one of the most interesting directors around nowadays. Unfortunately, I have to admit that I was kind of disappointed by the whole thing. I mean, it was not bad, far from it, and it was just way better than everything else Adam Sandler had done at the time but I still had a hard time to connect with the characters and what they were going through. The funniest part is that, with this movie, Adam Sandler finally tried something else, something more challenging, more interesting and what was his reward? The movie completely tanked at the box-office... Anyway, to conclude, even though I wasnât really blown away by the whole thing, it was a still a decent flick, easily one of the best starring Adam Sandler, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Paul Thomas Andersonâs work.
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