Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 11:55
(A review of
The Age of Innocence)
For many years, I have been tracking down the movies directed by the great Martin Scorsese, so I absolutely had to watch this movie at some point. And, once again, I wasn't disappointed, that’s for sure. Indeed, I thought it was a very good movie and it is definitely one of the best costume dramas I have ever seen. Unfortunately , it has become one of the most underrated movies directed by Scorsese. Indeed, after making some of the best gangster movies ever, Scorsese decided to completely shift gear and directed a costume drama. And you know what? It worked. In my opinion, it is a gorgeous and really fascinating picture. Usually, I really have a hard time to relate with such characters but, here, they managed to make me care about them and what they were going through. Of course, it helps when you have Daniel Day-Lewis in your cast... Day-Lewis was, as usual, terrific but Michelle Pfeiffer and Winona Ryder should also be credited for their performances. To conclude, I thought it was a very good movie, one of the best in this genre, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Scorsese's work.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 11:40
(A review of
Menace II Society)
There are so many Hood movies, especially released back then in the 90's, and most of them are actually rather forgettable. However, there are a few exceptions and this movie is definitely one of them. Indeed, it turned out to be a great and heartbreaking movie and, in my opinion, it was even slightly better than 'Boyz n the hood' which is probably the most famous movie in this genre. I mean, both movies are really good and eventually 'Boyz n the hood' got a lot of attention whereas this movie went by pretty much unnoticed. I preferred this one because 'Boyz n the hood' ended up with a rather hopeful message while this movie was bleak and relentless from the beginning until the end and it made more sense to me. Indeed, for most of the people living in those ghettos, there is no happy ending at the end, just a lot of misery along the way. It is such a shame that the Hughes brothers, the guys who directed this movie, never managed to really break through afterwards. I mean, they still managed to direct a movie once in a while but none of them reached the level of their amazing debut. Anyway, to conclude, it is a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 11:28
(A review of
Carlito's Way)
For some reasons, I have always been fascinated by this movie. It probably had to do with the fact that I was very young when I saw it (I was probably around 14 years old), at that point, I haven’t watched yet so many gangster features such as ‘The Godfather’ or even ‘Scarface’ and it probably made me appreciate more this movie. Anyway, somehow, even though this movie has some very strong ratings (according to IMDb, it is the 2nd best movie directed by Brian De Palma only behind ‘Scarface’), it seems to be rather forgotten nowadays which is rather sad because I really believe it is actually one of the very best movies in this genre. Indeed, 10 years after ‘Scarface’, Brian de Palma and Al Pacino were working again together but, even though it was another crime feature dealing with some latino gangster, both movies were actually really different. Indeed, the big difference was that Carlito was not such a bad guy but, even though he really wanted to get straight, he kept getting pulled back in this dirty business and this process was just so fascinating and heartbreaking to behold. Anyway, to conclude, I think it is actually one of the best crime movies ever made and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 11:25
(A review of
Schindler's List)
Since I heard so many good things about this movie, I was really curious to check it out. Even if Steven Spielberg has definitely made many very entertaining flicks in the past , I always had been kind of annoyed by his movies because they are most of the times not challenging enough, or too "nice" for my taste (For example, 'ET' is a good movie but the alien and the children tend to get on my nerves and the music is pretty cheesy). However, with this movie, Spielberg finally displayed his skills showing a terribly bleak and dark tale. Of course, you could say that Schindler is a little too heroic but you can't argue that Amon Goethe is one of the most despicable and yet fascinating bad guys seen on the silver screen. The directing was great, the cast (Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, Ralph Fiennes) was awesome and the story was completely heartbreaking. It was so good that the Academy finally HAD to give Spielberg his Oscar which he had been denied for so many years. Anyway, to conclude, it is a great classic and a must see for any decent movie fan, especially if you are interested in Spielberg's work.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 10:26
(A review of
The Bridges of Madison County)
I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I have it on DVD, I thought I might as well check it again. Following his two great movies ‘Unforgiven’ and ‘A Perfect World’, with his next directing effort, Clint Eastwood displayed again that he was a major director we should all reckon with and he displayed that he also could direct basically anything. Indeed, apparently, even romantic features become masterpieces with him. It is something I always enjoyed with Eastwood as a director, his versatility and, if you give it a close look, you will notice that he has done movies in almost every single genre you could think of. This time around, it was basically a rather simple love story but the way it was told was so striking and pure at the same time, it was quite mind-blowing to behold. Of course, to have those two acting giants, Meryl Streep and Clint Eastwood, playing this couple was also a masterstroke and they were both great in this. Indeed, together, they created a very touching and believable couple and one of the best romantic tales I have ever seen. With this feature, Clint Eastwood showed that he was actually one of the most sensitive directors out there and his understated directing style never worked better than here. Anyway, to conclude, I really loved this flick, it is one of the best romances I have seen and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 10:17
(A review of
Leaving Las Vegas)
To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point. Anyway, like anyone else, I have noticed that the critics against Nicolas Cage have been drastically increasing during the last 10 years and, for a very long time, I was actually defending the guy. However, I have to admit it, the situation concerning his career is nowadays pretty much dramatic as he keeps showing up in some really dubious projects. Still, there was a time when he was a really inspired and inspiring actor and he even managed to win an Academy award for his work in this great movie. Indeed, you can say whatever you want about the guy but, he gave here a great performance, easily one of the best in his career. Concerning Elisabeth Shue, she was praised and she also pretty much gave the best performance of her career but, to be honest, she probably looked too good to be a believable prostitute but that was a minor issue. Anyway, even though I have seen many movies dealing with drugs and junkies, I haven’t see so many movies dealing with alcoholism but this film gave a really dark and unforgettable view on this affliction. To conclude, it was a really heartbreaking and depressing story and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you finally want to see a good movie starring Nicolas Cage.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 10:09
(A review of
12 Monkeys)
This movie is probably Terry Gilliam's most successful feature, at least financially speaking. Fortunately, it happens to be a really good movie as well. If I remember it correctly, I saw it twice when it came out and I thought the whole thing was just spellbinding. Like most of the movies dealing with time travel, many things didn't make much sense but Gilliam didn't even try to rationalize what was going on whereas lesser movies would spend a terrible amount of time trying to convince you that the whole thing is actually making any sense. Since then, I have also seen 'La Jetée', the short movie which has inspired this flick and together, they are some awesome companion pieces. It is also a proof that a remake can be really interesting when treated properly, even though I’m not sure if this movie should be called a remake, it is actually much too reducing. So, the directing was pretty impressive but the acting was really good too. Indeed, Brad Pitt and Bruce Willis both show that they have some range delivering some of their best performances. To conclude, I think it is a fascinating story, my favorite movie directed by Terry Gilliam, and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Gilliam's work.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 09:56
(A review of
Smoke (1995))
I remember it very well, I saw this movie when it was released and, actually, it would be pretty neat to re-watch it again after all these years. Anyway, back in the 90's, Harvey Keitel made a major come-back, mostly thanks to ‘Reservoir Dogs’, and he was one the most interesting actors around. Unfortunately, in the 2000's, he went back to minor movies... Anyway, in this movie, Keitel, like the rest of the cast, was really good. This movie was also the very first time that I saw William Hurt and the guy really impressed me. What I didn’t know then, is that Hurt was actually one of the most heralded actors of the 80’s, a status he lost at the beginning of the 90’s but never managed to get back. After watching this movie, I have been following his work ever since and I think the guy is actually really underrated nowadays. Coming back to our main feature, the directing was very good and the story was quite fascinating. Indeed, at the time, Paul Auster was one of the most acclaimed writers in the world and it was just amazing to see his spellbinding way to tell a story in a movie like this one. To conclude, even though it is pretty much forgotten nowadays, I think it is a really good movie and it is definitely worth a look.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 09:46
(A review of
Casino)
I remember very well, I saw this one when it came out. I was about 15-16 years old back then and I thought it was pretty good but it didn't really blow me away. However, I rewatched it again 15 years later and, this time, it really hit me. Indeed, this time, I thought it was really awesome. I guess the only flaw it has is that he came out after 'The Godfather' and, above all, 'Goodfellas'. Indeed, I guess many people dismiss it as yet another gangster flick directed by Scorsese, starring again Robert de Niro and Joe Pesci. Actually, it is something rather different. First of all, this time around, De Niro has the lead and delivers an impressive performance, as usual. I was also impressed by Sharon Stone who a gave also solid performance but, unfortunately, it is probably the only movie she made during her whole career that I really appreciated (ok, 'Total Recall' was really awesome but she just had a small part). What a shame that Scorsese and De Niro don't make anymore movies together... Anyway, there is here some great directing, great acting and a fascinating story. To conclude, I think it is a great flick, one of the most underated ones directed by Scorsese and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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Posted : 14 years, 2 months ago on 2 February 2011 09:05
(A review of
Deception)
I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a nice cast involved, I thought I might as well check it out. Eventually, even though the whole thing had some potential, it turned out to be a seriously disappointing thriller. I mean, I did like the directing, there was a really nice néo-noir mood and the cast was impressive (Ewan McGregor, Hugh Jackman, Michelle Williams, Natasha Henstridge, Charlotte Rampling, Maggie Q) but, unfortunately, the story was rather lame. The plot was just so convoluted and I went on and on and on.... I just hate it when a movie ends with 3 different twists ! It's a real shame considering the cast and I really liked the tone of the movie but the story was so average and disappointing. The whole concept about this sex club was actually really neat but it was ruining by everything else, by the fact that the main character would fall in love in one of this women but, above all, by this con which was just so underwhelming and far-fetched. To conclude, even though it really had some potential, at the end of the day, it was just an average thriller and it is not really worth a look.
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