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All reviews - Movies (7756) - TV Shows (10)

A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 17 September 2022 09:00 (A review of The Flowers of St. Francis)

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, it was the very first movie directed by Roberto Rossellini that I have seen so far and, hopefully, I will watch much more of his work in the near future. The first interesting thing about this movie was that, even though it seemed deeply pious, Rossellini was not really a religious man himself. In fact, back then right when he was making this movie, there was this huge scandal as he was having a baby with Ingrid Bergman while they were still both married with other people. I guess, Rossellini was a little bit like me in the sense that, even if he wasn’t really religious, he thought that religion was a fascinating subject. Still, even if this movie was intriguing, it was never really fascinating though. I mean, I did appreciate its focus on the purest form of Catholicism but, in my opinion, its episodic form prevented it from really developing St. Francis as a character and also as a concept. Sure, it was faithful to the book it was based from, ‘Little Flowers of St. Francis’ which was based on more than 50 episodic chapters but I just didn’t care much for this approach. It was still a fine piece Italian neo-realism though and I was amazed to discover afterwards that the characters were not played by actors but by actual Franciscan monks. Apparently, Rossellini usually preferred to work with non-professional actors and, in this case, it did work fine. Anyway, to conclude, even though it is not a really easy movie to digest, it was still an interesting watch and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 16 September 2022 10:19 (A review of Blair Witch)

Even though this sequel didn’t get much love when it was released, since I always had a weak spot for ‘The Blair Witch Project’, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, after all these years, I still haven’t watch ‘Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2’ but I should definitely check it out at some point, just to see how terrible it actually is. Anyway, to be honest, I don’t think this new sequel was bad at all after all. Indeed, it turned out to be a rather faithful follow-up to the classic horror feature, even though it has been a while since I have seen such nauseating found-footage scenes. Maybe they could have deviated from the original and gave a couple of scenes at the beginning to develop more the characters though. Instead, they developed more the last act which really did deviate from ‘The Blair Witch Project’. Of course, they still ended up with a house which was not supposed to be there, in fact, it was exactly the same house. However, they did add much more action scenes but I don’t think it was such a great idea. Indeed, that’s probably the only thing that they didn’t understand. Basically, the original movie did work because it focused on the psychological trauma experienced by the characters and they actually showed almost nothing which was just so creepy. By showing so much more basic horror stuff, this movie was therefore much less effective. And, yet, I have to admit it, it was actually pretty creepy and I needed a couple of minutes to shake this feeling away when it was finished which shows that, in spite of its obvious flaws, the damned thing actually did work. Anyway, to conclude, sure, this movie was probably another useless sequel (like 99% of all sequels) but I thought it was actually mildly entertaining and I guess it might be actually worth a look but only if you really like the genre. 



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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 15 September 2022 11:40 (A review of Humanity And Paper Balloons)

To be honest, I wasn’t sure what to expect from this movie but since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, I wonder if the English title was a literal translation of the Japanese title but it is probably one of the greatest titles I came across. It might sound cryptic but it completely made sense with this movie, especially during the very last scene. Concerning Sadao Yamanaka, I had never heard of the guy before, he apparently died pretty young but he was apparently a major influence on all the great Japanese directors that came afterwards such as Akira Kurosawa or Yasujirî Ozu. And, indeed, it was quite impressive how immersive the world created by Yamanaka was. He really gave you the feeling that you were transported 2 centuries ago in Feudal Japan and you basically spent most of the running time in some rather poor neighborhood with so many intriguing characters. It was also pretty neat how, even though the material was fairly dark and the hopes of the involved characters were rather bleak, there was still quite a lot of humor. And, yet, the damned thing was still missing something though. It might had to do with the fact that, since there were quite a lot of characters involved, many were not really developed whatsoever. There was also the fact that, even though Shinza was always intriguing and kept surprising me, I had a hard time to care about Matajuro Unno, the ronin. I mean, how many times do you need to get rejected before moving on? Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a strong vintage Japanese drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 14 September 2022 09:05 (A review of Not Okay)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was selected by IndieWire as one of the best movies released in 2022 so far and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, except for IndieWire, this movie didn’t get much love after all if you check the ratings on IMDb but I thought it was not bad at all. Indeed, the beginning was basically a pitch-black satire of the current social media craze and it did work mostly because, even though it might seem far-fetched, I don’t think it was so removed from the truth. Indeed, what could be the percentage of fake stuff on social media platforms? 50%? Even more? Eventually, the bottom line is that nobody really cares if it is true or not, as long as it is a catchy story and I think it was perfectly displayed in this movie. The intriguing thing was that, after the main character had some lousy pathetic sex with another vapid influencer, they actually changed the mood and the focus of this tale. Indeed, it became suddenly a serious drama showing what someone could achieve if they use social media platforms for a righteous cause. It also displayed that, by interacting with ‘real’ people, by getting involved in something so profound as human trauma, the main character drastically changed. As a result, I think I actually preferred the 2nd half of this movie. Unfortunately, this switch in the tone was just jarring though. Indeed, while both parts had merits, it felt almost like watching 2 completely different movies. Furthermore, even though they started with a cute warning stating that this movie was dealing with ‘an unlikable female protagonist’, it still seemed that they chickened out and tried to humanize her somehow, which completely clashed with how she was first presented. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch though and I think it is worth a look, especially if you are interested in this subject. 



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A classic

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 13 September 2022 10:38 (A review of Tabu)

Since this movie seemed to have a solid reputation (it is included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list among other things), I was quite eager to check it out. I wonder if it was, after ‘Nosferatu’, only the 2nd movie directed by Murnau that I have seen so far and it is quite impressive how the two movies were so different from each other. With this in mind, I’m not surprised that Murnau was considered as one of the great masters of silent movies and I should definitely check his other movies. Eventually, what I enjoyed the most about this movie was its visual aspect. Indeed, the vintage footage was quite beautiful to look at and, while ‘Nosferatu’ was a dark fantastical tale and still one of the best horror movies ever made, this movie was so luminous with some gorgeous natural landscapes. It also felt quite realistic (at least, it seemed to be) and I wonder if they made up all this ‘tabu’ stuff or if it was some actual tradition in Bora Bora back in those days. Anyway, they basically gave a mix of some realistic beautiful exotic footage from this remote island with a basic but efficient doomed love tale and this mix worked surprisingly well. Still, eventually, even if the damned thing was very well made, the story was still too basic for my taste though. The biggest issue was the fact that none of the characters was developed whatsoever. Sure, on one hand, it did give the character some ‘purity’ but, on the other hand, it also deprived them of any kind of complexity. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely blow me away, it was still a solid watch though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 12 September 2022 10:04 (A review of Fire Island)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was selected by IndieWire as one of the best movies released in 2022 so far and since it was available on Disney+, I thought I might as well check it out. In fact, I did follow the same process with ‘Fresh’ and, in my opinion, this movie was actually vastly overrated by IndieWire. However, in this case, I had to admit that I wasn’t disappointed at all. First of all, I thought it was such a fun and charismatic group of friends. It was also really neat to see them in their own sheltered environment, even if my feelings were mixed on this matter. Indeed, one on hand, it is so great that they could get together, be themselves, enjoy being together, without being harassed by the usual bigots. However, it is also incredibly sad that a whole group of the population still has to hide themselves so they simply could live, not much more than that. Even though it was a point which wasn’t really developed here, it was also pretty obvious that most of them had barely or no contact anymore with their biological families making their bond even more meaningful. Even if I’m not gay myself, it seems that they did their best to be faithful and realistic regarding the gay community and it was quite interesting to dive into this world. Eventually, even if some of the characters were fairly well developed, I’m afraid it was still not enough to make them really fascinating though. The fact that they were stuck in a rather typical modern Jane Austen’s adaptation probably didn’t help. It’s not that it was such a terrible idea, it’s just that it was a rather unoriginal and safe option. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was missing something to be really a masterpiece, it was still a really solid romantic-comedy though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 11 September 2022 03:07 (A review of Speak No Evil (2022) )

After watching 2 really heavy heartbreaking drama’s with my filmclub, I hoped we would see something slightly lighter this time but I’m afraid my friend Peter apparently didn’t get the memo. Well, even though this movie did seem to receive some decent reviews, to be honest, I really had a hard time to care for it. The first thing that bothered me was the soundtrack. Indeed, they went for some typical ominous horror tunes during some completely quaint and innocent scenes and it felt really heavy-handed. Then, the other thing that bothered me was the fact these two couples were just so tedious to behold. At least, the Dutch couple with their anti-social behaviour was slightly more intriguing but the Danish couple was just so damned polite, spineless, and completely boring. It didn’t help that none of these characters was really developed. At least, Fedja van HuĂȘt, probably one of the best Dutch actors at work nowadays, did deliver a really solid performance and did manage to make the most of this material. Indeed, van HuĂȘt managed to be threatening and disarmingly friendly and charismatic sometimes during the very same scene and this balancing act was actually quite impressive. To be honest, I have to admit there might have been some underlining meaning that I missed. Otherwise, what was the point of antagonising and scaring their victims prematurely? Another example would be the stoning scene. Sure, it was an original way to kill someone but it is also incredibly ineffective, especially from such a distance. So, there might have been a deeper meaning for all this but, to be honest, I simply wouldn’t care about it. Anyway, to conclude, even though this movie didn’t really work for me, I still think it was a decent watch though and it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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A classic

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 11 September 2022 08:17 (A review of Peter Ibbetson (1935))

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was included in the ‘1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die’ list, I was quite eager to check it out. Unfortunately, after watching a pristine restored version of ‘The Kid Brother’ on YouTube, for this movie, the version I saw on YouTube as well was seriously bad. In fact, the beginning was pretty much unwatchable and I almost quit at some point. Concerning the movie itself, it turned out to be a strange and super romantic tale. For some reason, it did remind me of ‘When Harry met Sally
’ and how this movie could have turned out to be if the main characters were not so cynical. And, yet, with all its old-fashioned approach, I thought it actually did work which might be surprising since I’m also quite cynical like Harry Burns and Sally Albright. I guess there was something pure and unambiguous on how they approached a romantic relationship. To be honest, the movie didn’t have much else to offer though (with a running time of barely 85 mins, there was basically no time for it). There was also the fact that the story didn’t make much sense. Wouldn’t it have been more logical that Peter meet again Mary in Paris instead of during some completely random work assignment? In fact, even the two main characters were barely developed at all. Still, there is no denying that Gary Cooper (who, for some reason, thought he was miscast for this part) really made the most of this material and the guy was just super charismatic. Concerning Ann Harding, she wasn’t bad either but she was given even less to do then Cooper. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to be a solid vintage romantic drama and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 10 September 2022 08:56 (A review of Pinocchio)

While we are all waiting for Guillermo Del Toro’s version to finally come out (seriously, I think it has been added more than 10 years ago on this website), I thought I might as well watch Robert Zemeckis’s version in the meantime l since it was already available on Disney+. Of course, like most of Disney’s recent live action adaptations of their classic animated features, the damned thing felt really misguided from the start. Especially in this case, it felt even more pointless since they followed so faithfully the animated version. Sure, they did tweak a few details here and there but these details had so very little added value, you wonder if a shot-by-shot remake wouldn’t have been more efficient. At least, it was visually not bad, even though I wasn’t so sure about the approach they chose  for the main character. Sure, Pinocchio is supposed to be a wooden puppet but it felt as if the puppet was not completely finished yet, as if the wood was still raw, and it gave him a rather creepy look. Concerning the story, it has always been one of the weirdest and even more unsettling tales delivered by Disney, something you will never see anytime soon again coming from these guys. Here, with this modern adaptation, they tried to smooth out some of the dark edges somehow but the end-result was rather unsatisfying since they never settled for a specific tone. And, yet, it is still a fascinating tale and I just loved the relationship between Pinocchio and Geppetto, even in this really misguided new version. Anyway, to conclude, I’m pretty sure I was really too generous with my rating here but I guess I might still be worth a look but you should definitely lower your expectations before watching the damned thing. 


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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 5 months ago on 9 September 2022 10:57 (A review of Hellzapoppin')

To be honest, I had never heard of this movie before so I had no idea what to expect from it but since it was included in the ‘They Shoot Pictures, Don’t They?’ list, I thought I might as well check it out. First of all, it was definitely one of the coolest movie names I have ever come across and, eventually, the damned thing turned out to be a really nice surprise after all. Indeed, it is probably one of the craziest and most freewheeling movies I have ever seen. It was apparently based on a very successful Broadway show and I can imagine how wild it must have been on stage back then. Obviously, they probably had to vastly modify this show to adapt it as a motion picture but I’m pretty sure this transition also allowed them to be really creative, at least, that’s what I would expect considering the end-result. Of course, the whole thing was really random and the endless succession of gags was also quite relentless but I was mostly entertained and even fairly impressed by the creativity displayed. In fact, they actually did include a plot involving a pretty basic love triangle. Well, to be honest, I have seen my share of classic vintage romantic-comedies with a similar plot and while many would argue that these movies are amazing, I always had a hard time to really care for them. Eventually, as far as I was concerned, I really did appreciate how they took such a typical romantic-comedy gimmick (especially back then in the 30’s and 40’s) and turned it completely upside down. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was probably not a masterpiece, it was a really entertaining flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially you are eager to watch something really original and pretty wild. 



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