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CollectionsIt is difficult to imagine but, for many years, Nicole Kidman was only known as being Tom Cruiseâs wife. Eventually, she turned out to be one of the most praised actresses of her generation. In fact, many people forgot it but it was with this movie that Nicole Kidman finally proved that she could actually act and not only be Mrs Cruise. I remember it very well, I even saw it in the movie theatre when it was released (it reminds me that I should re-watch it at some point) and I thought it was a really cool movie. Indeed, the story was really entertaining with a lot of dark humor and Kidman finally displayed some major acting skills here. Indeed, it is pretty tricky to create a rather unlikable character who still has to be entertaining or interesting to follow, otherwise, you will lose your audience but I thought she definitely nailed it. Eventually, 4 years later, she would show up in âEyes Wide Shutâ, the final directing effort by the almighty Stanley Kubrick, and her acting career would be really launched for good. Anyway, to conclude, I really liked this movie and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Gus van Sant's work.
A great underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:36
(A review of To Die For)
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A great underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:34
(A review of Subway)To be honest, I have never been a huge fan of Luc Besson and, nowdays, the guy has pretty much become a real factory as he has been producing some of the biggest junk you can imagine (âThe Transporterâ, âTaxiâ, âTakenâ, âColombianaâ,â3 Days to Killâ, âUnleashedâ, âŚ). I mean, it is not that those movies are all worthless, but they are all terribly disposable, you just watch them and you forget them instantly. Concerning his work as a director, I think his movies are often terribly pretentious (âLeonâ is probably one of the most overrated movies ever made) but, I have to admit it, he still managed to make a few amazing movies and this one is definitely one of them. Indeed, the guy always had a stylish directing style (definitely his strongest quality) but I always found his stories actually rather underwhelming. With this movie, even though it is one of his less known directing efforts, I thought it was actually quite mesmerizing. At the time, Isabelle Adjani was one of the greatest French actresses and even Christopher Lambert who would turned out to be a really underwhelming actor was actually really good here. To conclude, even though it is a rather obscure feature, I really liked it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in French movies.
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A really underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:33
(A review of Mad City)To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely re-watch it at some point to make up my mind for good about the damned thing. I have noticed that this movie is quite obscure and, even though it didnât get much love when it was released but, for some reasons, I liked it a lot. It is not one of the most famous movies starring Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta (I know, the guy makes a lot of crap but if you look carefully, he did some great movies besides âPulp Fictionâ) but I think it actually deserves much more credit. I wonder if it was the first movie directed by Costa-Gavras that I saw but it was definitely one of the first and I really loved how politically engaged this guy was and still is. Of course, if you compare this flick to âZâ, his masterpiece, it was not really up to that level but I still think it was a very interesting movie about the power of the media and how they can  manipulate the news to make it more entertaining. To conclude, even though this movie is rather obscure and even though it has a rather lousy reputation,  I thought it was actually really good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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A very good movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:32
(A review of Alpha Dog)I already saw this movie but since it was a while back and since I still have it on DVD, I was quite eager to check it out again. The point is that, even though it didnât get much love when it was released, I really liked it a lot and, in my opinion, it basically proves that Justin Timberlake can act. Timberlake was actually not the only interesting actor here and the cast was actually filled with a huge load of up-and-coming actors (Emile Hirsch, Ben Foster, Anton Yelchin, Olivia Wilde, Dominique Swain, Amanda Seyfried, Amber Heard, Lukas Haas). Above all, I thought it was just a very strong story. The fact it is a true story was, to be honest, not really relevant to me but still it makes the whole thing sounds even crazier. In my opinion, this movie shows that the youth can be sometimes completely disconnected from the real world and it can have some dreadful consequences. To be honest, while re-watching this flick, I was actually slightly bothered by the fact that most of the characters involved were just so clueless and even pretty stupid. As a result, I had a a harder time to root or care for them but it wasn't a deal breaker. Through the years, I have closely followed Nick Cassavetes's career and after watching most of his movies, in my opinion, it might be his best movie so far. It is at least way better than 'The Notebook' which is probably his most popular movie. Anyway, to conclude, I thought it was a really good flick and it is definitely worth a look.
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An underrated masterpiece
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:27
(A review of Damage)Even though it has been ages since I last saw this movie, I remember it as if I saw it just a couple of days ago. Indeed, I was completely blown away by the whole thing and it became instantly one of my all-time favorites. To be honest, I have never understood why this movie never received more credit and it is, in my opinion, one of the least appreciated movie directed by Louis Malle. It seems that many people didn't care for the sex scenes because they were considered over-the-top and borderline ridiculous but I don't think the great qualities of this movie had anything to do with those infamous sex scenes. No, in my opinion, what made this movie so great to me was this fascinating story. Indeed, there was a great cast with Jeremy Irons and Juliette Binoche who delivered some really good performances and they were just mesmerizing to behold. On top of that, the suspense at the end was huge. Finally, this movie shows that love would make you do the craziest things. To conclude, I do believe this movie is seriously underrated, it is a great dark story about the obsession involved in any great love story and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Louis Malle's work.Â
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A great underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:24
(A review of The Blair Witch Project (1999))I remember exactly the first time I saw this movie. Back then, I was on holiday in Baltimore, my host family went to see this flick and they brought me with them. At that time, I had no idea what it was about and I was completely unaware about the whole hype surrounding this feature. To be honest, I had never seen anything like this before but, even though my host family didn't it like at all (I think there were expecting something more conventional), I thought it was a really engrossing experience. In my opinion, the biggest difference with the other found-footage features I have seen afterwards is that you don't actually see or hear anything really preposterous which made the whole thing even more unsettling. The other thing I enjoyed is that even though the 3 actors were amateurs, a typical trademark with this genre, they were actually really convincing and believable so I really cared for their predicament. I have re-watched it a couple of times through the years, I still think it held up pretty good and it is by far my favorite movie in this genre. Since then, this directing style has been copied to death because it is really cheap so you don't need many people to show up to make some money. To be honest, since I really liked this flick, I always had a weak spot for this genre but I have to admit that it is getting tiresome by now as there is unfortunately no more creativity involved. To conclude, even though this movie doesn't have a really good rep nowadays, I actually like it a lot and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre like I do.
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A great underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:21
(A review of Wag the Dog )Honestly, I didn't know what to expect before watching this flick but I was eventully pleasantly surprised by the whole thing. Indeed, this is another underrated movie about politics, a subject which I always find really spellbinding. Furthermore, it is, I believe, one of the last great movies starring Robert de Niro and Dustin Hoffman as they both didn't do many great movies after that. Basically, in my opinion, it is a really funny and actually rather sharp satire with some very nice dark humor but still, it manages to never get too presposerous and, as a result, you still care about the story and the characters involved. Eventually, it is probably my favorite movie directed by Barry Levinson, a guy responsible for such (supposedly) classics like âGood Morning, Vietnamâ and above all âRain Manâ, also starring Dustin Hoffman. Unfortunately, this flick didnât get much love when it was released, I think it is actually terribly underrated and I will definitely re-watch it at some point when I get the opportunity. To conclude, I thought the whole thing was just fascinating to watch, it is definitely worth a look, especially if you want to watch another great movie starring De Niro and Hoffman.
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A very good movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:20
(A review of A Perfect World)I already saw this movie, I even saw it in the movie theater when it came out, I was just 13 or 14 years old and it was the first time I almost cried at the end of any movie. I mean, I was a wreck at the end and it was the very first time I was so emotional after watching a movie. It was a very intense experience and therefore this movie became one of the major milestones in my movie watching. Well, somehow, it took me about 30 years to finally this movie again and, fortunately, I still think it is an amazing movie. Indeed, even though it might be surprising but, even though it is not really one of his most highly regarded features, it is, and by far, my all-time favorite movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Furthermore, in my opinion, Kevin Costner delivered here the best performance of his career, bringing a nice combo of coolness and melancholy to his character and he had a great chemistry with this young boy. But, in spite of how cool Butch might seem, he was also a criminal with some demons and Costner was amazing bringing this complex duality to the screen. I also believe that this movie actually gave such deep thoughts about the meaning of life and how you should treat one and another. However, even though the damned thing once again floored me, I have to admit that it wasnât as flawless as I remembered though. The first issue was that it was too long. I mean, it was basically a movie about a man and a boy just driving around and having some casual conversations, the end-results was amazing but also something seemingly fairly simple which didn't need to last almost 150 mins. The other issue was that Laura Dern's character just didn't work. Indeed, it felt as if they felt compelled to add a strong female character in the mix but it backfired and Dern spent most of the duration making some weird faces. Anyway, to conclude, I still think it is great though and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Clint Eastwoodâs work.
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A great underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:20
(A review of In the Valley of Elah)I remember it very well, back then, in 2005, when âCrashâ won the oscar for the best picture it was a big scandal. Everyone thought that âBrokeback Mountainâ was pretty much a shoe-in to win whereas some loved âCrashâ and some hated it. Personally, I neither really loved it or hated it and I thought it was a decent movie but it was definitely not great and it had some huge flaws. Anyway, after that, Paul Haggis directed this movie and very few people actually noticed it when it was released. I think itâs a shame because it is actually a very good flick. Indeed, first of all, there was some terrific casting with Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron on top of their game and the story was rather fascinating. I would go as far as saying that it is the best movie about the Irak war that I have seen so far. Indeed, in my opinion, it is quite a spellbinding thriller which gives some interesting insights about post-traumatic syndrom following a war or any military duties. To conclude, even though it is pretty much forgotten nowadays, it is actually a very good flick and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.
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A great underrated movie
Posted : 14 years ago on 20 August 2010 08:19
(A review of Primary Colors)To be honest, it has been a while since I have seen this flick and I should definitely check it out again when I have the opportunity. I have noticed that it didn't get much love when it was released but I think it's a shame as I really liked it a lot. If I'm not mistaken, I think it was made just before the Monicagate (maybe I'm wrong!) so it was actually extremely sharp. Anyway, I think it is a very interesting movie about politics (a topic I find riveting) and the cast was very good as well. Indeed, John Travolta gave here one of his best performances and he managed to create a a multifaceted character who was obviously charismatic and likeable but also a terrible womanizer and therefore a little bit a loser. And yet, the guy was not a total idiot so it was quite a complex character. To play the wife, they chose Emma Thompson and she was also a great casting choice and, with Travolta, they made a really strong duo. To conclude, I thought it was a really solid political drama, probably one of the best in this genre, and it is definitely worth a look.
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