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Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 02:25
(A review of Anaconda)Before watching this, I had some rather low expectations but, at least, I thought it could be fun to watch. Unfortunately, I thought it was just pretty bad. I know, you're not supposed to take such a movie too seriously but still... It is just bad on every possible level (acting, directing, plot,...). It could have been something but, at the end, it is just worthless. Maybe if you are a fan of B movies, you may end up enjoying it more than I did but I wouldn't count on it. Eventually, more than 10 years later, I re-watched it with Nick, my step-son, because he loves all these monsters movies and I have to admit it, there were a few redeeming features. First of all, you would never get a cast like this for a B feature nowadays (Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Jon Voight, Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, Danny Trejo) and the special effects were actually not as bad as I remembered. Still, the plot about Jon Voight highjacking the boat to hunt some giant snakes was utterly idiotic and unnecessary. Just build up a story about a rich guy who wants to hunt down some snakes hiring a crew with Jon Voight as a leader, that would have been already an improvement. To conclude, the whole thing is pretty lame and I donât think it is really worth a look whatsoever.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 02:17
(A review of Against All Odds (1984))For some reasons I donât fully grasp, I always had a hard time with this movie but maybe I should give it a 2nd chance. I mean, the movie had a decent reputation and, on paper, it sounded pretty good. Eventually, I did like the mood which was very much in a film noir style. Unfortunately, very soon, I thought the whole story became rather ridiculous. First of all, the whole concept of a gangster hiring a ex-US football player to find his girlfriend was already rather preposterous to start with. I mean, at some point, the whole thing started to look more like some sort of romantic soap opera than a slick film noire, at least, thatâs my opinion. I was surprised to discover that this flick was in fact a remake of âOut of the Pastâ, easily one of the best film noirs ever made and while it wasnât necessarily a bad idea to make a modern version of this classic, it still think it was a really misguided choice to replace a private investigators with a ex-football player. Anyway, to conclude, the whole thing had some potential but I thought it was actually pretty weak and I donât think it is really worth a look.
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A very good movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 02:02
(A review of Good Night, and Good Luck.)Before Ben Affleck surprisingly became the hottest actor-turned-director at work nowadays, it seems at some point that George Clooney would get this prestigious title. Indeed, with this movie, he was apparenly becoming a director to reckon with in the future. Unfortunately, his follow-up would be the really underwhelming âLeatherheadsâ and it has been a decade since we have been waiting for something brilliant coming from this director. Anyway, coming back to our main feature, even though I still have a preference for his debut âConfessions of a Dangerous Mindâ, this follow-up was still quite impressive. Indeed, the directing was just top notch, they really managed to nail the time period and the story was rather fascinating. On top of that, David Strathairn displayed his acting talent all over the screen and itâs a pity that he has done anything really amazing in the following decade. Even though you might argue that the whole thing was probably not accurate, it did feel really accurate to me and, above all, I thought it was a really important story which is not something that you canât say about most movies. To conclude, I really liked this flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested by this subject.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:48
(A review of Doom)To be honest, I find it rather difficult to judge this flick. Indeed, like most of the video-game movie adaptations, the whole thing had a really lousy reputation so I was an expecting something pretty terrible. And yet, it was one of those cases that I was expecting something so bad, that I end up actually being positively surprised by the movie. I mean, sure, it is not a good movie at all but it was not as bad as I expected, that's all. I donât know, maybe it has to do with the fact that, even though Iâm familiar with the video-game, it was never a favorite of mine so this movie couldnât possibly let me down. On top of that, âDoomâ might be a fun game to play but, to be honest, it seems that the concept is just too limited to build up a satisfying story, at least, thatâs my opinion. Eventually, even though I thought that Dwayne Johnson was pretty badass here, apparently, he stated that the whole thing was a complete failure. Anyway, to conclude, even though it was slightly better than I expected , it still remains a very generic action flick with nothing original and Iâm not sure it is really worth a look.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:42
(A review of Air America)Honestly, I don't remember much about this flick. I mean, on paper, it sounded great to have Mel Gibson and Robert Downey Jr playing some buddies in an action comedy like this one but, eventually, I thought the whole thing was terribly underwhelming. Probably, the biggest issue was that the tone was not really well defined. Indeed, if you watch the poster or the trailer, the whole thing seems to be a lighthearted buddy action comedy but the film was actually more serious dealing with stuff like drug trafficking and war in general. Eventually, the audience didnât care much for this flick when it was released and it was pretty much a flop. At least, this movie would be the start of a long lasting friendship between Gibson and Downey Jr. Apparently, it went so deep that Gibson who would vouch for Downey Jr when nobody would and he hired him to play the lead in âThe Singing Detectiveâ which would pretty much re-launch his career. So, basically, it means that, even though Mel Gibson has pretty much a very lousy reputation, it seems that we should still be thankful that he managed to restore the career of one of the most popular actors nowadays. To conclude, in spite of Robert Downey Jr and Mel Gibson, it was a rather boring and average flick.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:38
(A review of A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child)In fact, I already saw this movie but it was a while back and since I had it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it out again. To be honest, when I was watching it again, I couldnât remember a thing so it apparently didnât make much of an impression the first time around but it made sense. Indeed, it was probably the weakest sequel in this burn-out franchise and it was pretty obvious that the makers didnât even really try to deliver something decent. Eventually, it turned out to be the lowest grossing film of the franchise. I mean, there were a few good ideas, for example, the steamy intro was pretty good but, ultimately, most of it didnât work at all. Above all, they made the very same mistake that they already made with the 1st sequel which was to allow Freddy Krueger to kill his victims when they were wide awake. Seriously, it completely contradicted the most basic rule in this franchise and, as a result, the whole thing didnât make much sense and what was left was just a succession of messed-up but still elaborate killing scenes. At least, Lisa Wilcox was not the worst leading actress in this franchise. To conclude, I really had a hard time to care about the damned thing and I donât think it is really worth a look, Â only if you are a hardcore fan of Freddy Krueger.Â
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A bad movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:29
(A review of One Tough Bastard)To be honest, I wasnât expecting much from this flick but since âEquilibriumâ was a pretty good movie, I was curious to see the first feature directed by Kurt Wimmer. Apparently, it is quite an obscure flick as I was only the second listal member who rated it. Anyway, to watch this flick was a big mistake. Indeed, I thought it was just plain bad on every possible level (story, acting, directing,...). Ok, I have to admit it, the title was pretty awesome but thatâs pretty much the only thing I actually enjoyed. Basically, it is one of those brainless action flicks and, maybe if you are a die-hard fan of the genre, you might find some redeeming features but I highly doubt it. Concerning Brian Bosworth, I was wondering from where the guy was actually coming from and it seems that he was some failed NFL player. Anyway, apparently, Kurt Wimmer has on several occasions said that âEquilibriumâ was his directorial debut and indeed, even though he was credited as director for this flick, he was apparently fired early during filming and the producer Kurt Anderson took over as director. To conclude, I thought the whole thing was pretty lame and I would suggest to avoid it if you donât want to waste your time.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:24
(A review of Miracle)Since this movie had a really solid reputation and an impressive rating (no less than 7.5 on IMDB), I was quite eager to check it out and I had some rather high expectations. Eventually, sure, the story was pretty neat, Kurt Russel gave a solid performance and the directing was decent but still, was it really enough to make this a good movie? Iâm not so sure. Indeed, unfortunately, like most of the other sport movies, it was way too predictable for my taste. The main issue with this kind of movies is that, sure, it must have been awesome to see this game, especially if you are American or you are into hockey but what does work in sport, the anxiety and the euphoria when your team is the underdog but still manages to win again all the odds, well, it doesnât work very well when you try to translate it to the movies. Indeed, the main issue is that you know beforehand the outcome before they are actually playing the big game and what is left is their journey to get there but, in my opinion, this journey was fairly entertaining but not really mind-blowing. To conclude, even though I thought that the whole thing was slightly disappointing, it is still worth a look though especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:16
(A review of Friday Night Lights)I wasnât sure what to expect from this movie but since it has a solid reputation, I was quite eager to check it out. Eventually, sure, the directing was decent and so is the acting but, honestly, there was nothing really original here. It all depends if you're a sport movie fan or not, especially (American) football. In this case, it was even dealing with high school football which is something even more culturally related. Indeed, for an European like me, it seems rather odd to see a town getting so worked up for a high school sport team. Anyway, the interesting thing with this movie is that they didnât only focus on the football but they also tried to develop the social aspect around the sport and it was fairly interesting. Still, at the end end of the day, it wasnât really as deep as the makers wanted us to believe (I mean, it was directed by Peter Berg, the guy who eventually came up with âBattleshipâ so we shouldnât ask for too much). Eventually, since this movie was fairly well received, they decided to expand it into a TV show, which I have never seen, and it managed to last 5 seasons. To conclude, even though I thought it was slightly disappointing, it was still a decent watch and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 13 years, 11 months ago on 11 March 2011 01:04
(A review of All the Real Girls (2003))Through the years, I heard some great thing about David Gordon Green. Indeed, even though he was, at first, completely unknown to the mainstream audience, he managed to build up a really solid reputation as indie film director. The late Roger Ebert was a huge fan and even thought he could become the next best American director, no less than that. Obviously, his status completely changed after âPineapple Expressâ and the guy suddently got involved in some rather underwhelming commercial features like âYour Highnessâ or âThe Sitterâ. Anyway, with this in mind, I was really eager to check this flick and I really wanted to like the damned thing. Eventually, even though the directing was very nice and the actors did a pretty good job (Zooey Deschanel was charming as usual), to be honest, I thought that the story was neither really interesting or entertaining enough. On top of that, I had a hard time with the main actor who was able to act adequatly but I thought that he had no charisma whatsoever. To conclude, I think itâs too bad because the whole thing really had some potential but, in spite of its flaws, I still think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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