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All reviews - Movies (7757) - TV Shows (10)

An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 30 June 2022 09:10 (A review of Can You Keep a Secret?)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Alexandra Daddario, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, to be honest, like most romantic comedies, the concept turned out to be rather weak. On top of that, even though Daddario tried very hard to portray an average girl, I’m afraid it was never really convincing. Once again, it had nothing to do with her performance, in fact, I think she was actually pretty good, it’s just that I’m pretty sure that such a gorgeous girl would be noticed by every single guy each time she would walk into a room. The other thing that bothered me was that many scenes felt very flat. For example, what was this animated intro?!? I guess it was supposed to be charming and/or quirky but, even though it wasn’t ugly, it didn’t have any added value whatsoever. And, yet, somehow, the damned thing was still fairly entertaining. I guess it might had to do with the fact that I have a weak spot for the genre. Furthermore, Alexandra Daddario and Tyler Hoechlin had a solid chemistry together. I wish they did let him open up sooner though. For example, I really liked the fact that the guy was actually terrified of flying which would mean that her weird intimate rambling actually made him relax and forget about his own fear which was a touching idea. Unfortunately, this interesting and actually quite romantic idea came completely towards the end so it was pretty much wasted. Anyway, to conclude, I think I might have been too generous with my rating here but it was a decent watch and I guess it is worth a look but probably only if you really like the genre. 



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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 28 June 2022 04:58 (A review of Upgrade)

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it seemed to have a decent reputation and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. I have to admit that I knew so little about the movie before watching it that I didn’t even know that it was taking place in the future but since I have a weak spot for such SF movies, it was a nice surprise. Eventually, even if it was maybe nothing really original, I have to admit that I turned out to actually fairly entertaining after all. Indeed, by now, I have seen my share of slick futuristic features but it looked decent enough. And it was pretty much the same concerning this cybernetic upgrades, it was nothing really new but it didn’t bother me. Concerning Lorgan Marshall-Green, I have nothing against the guy but he always seemed to be some kind of cheap version of Tom Hardy. The comparison with Hardy gets even weirder when his new best friend in this movie turned out to be some kind of polite high-tech version of Venom. Anyway, in spite of my silly grudge against Marshall-Green, I have to admit that he was actually pretty good here. Indeed, he pretty much carried the whole thing on his shoulders and he was always quite convincing. Concerning the story itself, I wish that the whole attack at the beginning would have been random because the twist at the end was actually fairly predictable. However, I have to admit that it didn’t except such a seriously grim ending, Leigh Wannel definitely displayed some guts to end up this way and it was much appreciated. Anyway, to conclude, it turned out to to a really solid and entertaining B feature and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 26 June 2022 11:19 (A review of Dora and the Lost City of Gold)

To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this flick but since it was involving Benicio Del Toro and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though the concept did seem terribly misguided, I have to admit that it was not bad or, at least, the end-result could have been much worse. Still, you might wonder who was the target audience for this movie though. Indeed, the Dora cartoon was aimed at very small children and the intro displayed how a real life action with this character should have actually looked like. However, you can’t really have some perilous adventure in the jungle with a 6 year old so they decided to show what Dora would look like if she would grow older which wasn’t a bad idea. As a result, she went to high-school which is, apparently, the biggest nightmare for any teenager but it was actually fun to see because, if this famous character would grow older, she would apparently be a seriously unadjusted teenager. However, at this point, the movie had completely drifted away from the original cartoon so they decided to bring her back to the jungle and this back-and-forth in the locations was rather awkward. I mean, at this point, guys, just take a decision and stick with it. Anyway, this final adventure in the jungle was decent enough, even if it was terribly derivative, especially the last bit which was completely lifted from ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’. Finally, Isabella Merced was just so cute and charismatic and she tried really hard to sell this character but, to be honest, I have some doubts that this movie was such a great career choice for her. Anyway, to conclude, my rating might have been too generous here but I thought it was not bad and this movie could be a decent option if you want to entertain some young children. 


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 26 June 2022 06:53 (A review of To Be King)

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was directed by Ben Sombogaart, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, even though Sombogaart is probably one of the most successful Dutch film directors at work nowadays, half of the movies he has directed were some family features which were all so lame, except maybe ‘Kruistocht in Spijkerbroek’ which was still nothing really amazing even if it won the Gouden Kalf of the Best Dutch movie of the year. Well, this movie was not an exception, I’m afraid. First of all, the first thing that bothered me was how cheap the whole thing looked. Indeed, even though it was made 10 years ago, it felt like it was made in the 80’s and the idea to add some war archive footage (obviously to save money) was rather pathetic and unconvincing. I understand that they probably had a micro-budget, especially compared to your average Hollywood production but, in this case, they should probably develop some other projects which don’t require a blockbuster budget. Concerning the story itself, I have to admit that I haven’t read the book which is, apparently, a huge classic among the Dutch youth, and I think it did have some potential. However, one again, I thought it was rather poorly handled here. For example, the introduction was weird and confusing. Who was this guy watching some TV? Where was the action taking place? Eventually, it turned out that it was some kind of fantasy land which still had all our modern gadgets but this mix was hard to sell and Sombogaart never managed to make it feel like a real place. Then, even though Mingus Dingelet and Abbey Hoes were both charismatic, their characters were barely developed. Above all, why on Earth would a 17 year old kid decide to become King and basically rule a nation? Eventually, that’s probably what bothered me the most, this condescending tone towards the viewers, especially children. Anyway, to conclude, the damned thing turned out to be really weak and I don’t think it is really worth a look. 


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 23 June 2022 08:59 (A review of Bill & Ted Face the Music)

I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it’s always tricky to come up with a sequel 30 years later, in fact, it is often a rather misguided idea. Anyway, in this case, to be honest, I really struggled to care about the damned thing. The first thing that really bothered me was the whole concept that Missy had first married Bill’s father, Ted’s father, and, for this movie, she was then marrying Ted’s brother?!? Sure, it was supposed to be funny but I thought it was actually seriously cringe-inducing. At least, it was a decent idea to send them to the future (but didn’t they already do it in the 2nd installment? I seriously can’t remember it though
) but it’s too bad this future looked so lame and cheap. At least, I should praise Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter to be still completely committed to these characters after all these years but, as far as I'm concerned, moronic characters are almost never entertaining or funny. I have to admit that it has been years since I saw the previous movies and, while watching this new instalment, I was wondering how I could have ever enjoyed ‘Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure’ in the first place. I guess I should re-watch this 80’s cult-classic to see if it was indeed much better than anything else that came afterwards in this franchise. By the way, the idea of including their daughters also had some potential but they should have included them from the start and have them time-travelling with their dads, it would have been more entertaining and an interesting departure from the previous movies. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing was harmless, I thought it was actually rather boring and I don’t think it is really worth a look, except if you are a die-hard fan of these characters. 



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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 20 June 2022 10:02 (A review of Girlhood)

Since I really loved ‘Portrait de la jeune fille en feu’, I was quite eager to watch another movie directed by CĂ©line Sciamma so I thought I might as well check this one out. Well, even if it might not be one of her most famous movies, it was still not bad at all. By now, I have seen enough movies dealing with ‘la banlieue’ (the French ghettos around Paris) but it was the first one I have seen focusing on the girls living there. Basically, it is a depressive but above all, as displayed in this movie, a really oppressive place to live and probably even more for young girls. Indeed, just like the boys, they have basically no prospects but, on top of that, there is some immediate physical danger at every dark corners. Eventually, it’s the first time this environment felt like such a prison to me. As a result, even if it might seem misguided, it might not be the worst idea in the world to hook up with a group of tough girls. It’s too bad they didn’t display how they managed to get by on a daily basis but I guess it wasn’t the point of this movie. It’s interesting that it was considered as a coming-of-age movie while, in fact, the main character didn’t evolve whatsoever. Of course, in some US movies, she would have become a tough gangster but, in this case, the main character didn’t climb up socially at all and, at the end, she seemed to be just as lost as she was in the beginning but I did appreciate this grim but at least realistic approach. To be honest, it did slightly bother me that Sciamma was a complete outsider from this world (like Mathieu Kassovitz was when he made ‘La haine’, the biggest classic in this genre) and I wonder if the people living in these ghettos felt correctly represented in this movie. Anyway, to conclude, it was still a decent watch and it is definitely worth a look. 


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 19 June 2022 09:12 (A review of Spiderhead)

To be honest, I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this flick but since there was a decent cast involved and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I had no idea what this movie was about before watching it and, at first, it did seem to be intriguing. Indeed, the title was mysterious, there was a cool soundtrack and the setup definitely had some potential. Unfortunately, these positive vibes didn’t last very long and even though it all looked very fancy, it turned out to be really empty after all. For starters , they basically repeated some supposedly revolutionary experiments which were very never really convincing. For example, they gave some drugs that made them having some crazy sex with whoever was in front of them and after that, they wondered why they didn’t feel the same way after the effects of the drugs was gone which was fairly stupid. Indeed, falling in love or even feeling attracted to someone doesn’t only involve some chemical reaction. By the way, it seemed rather unconvincing that Abnesti would run this whole thing with only one assistant. Eventually, it was probably the biggest issue, the fact that nothing was developed, neither the characters involved or the concept itself. I mean, sure, Chris Hemsworth did seem to have some fun with his character but who was this guy after all? The only bit of information you get is that he’d been dumped by his father when he was a kid but removing this bit of information might have made him actually more mysterious. Anyway, to conclude, I think I was actually rather generous with my rating here, there are not many things which are more frustrating than a rather stupid Netflix movie which tries to be smart but I guess you might still check it out though. 



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A good movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 17 June 2022 07:03 (A review of Tomboy)

Since I really loved ‘Portrait de la jeune fille en feu’, I was quite eager to watch another movie directed by CĂ©line Sciamma so I thought I might as well check this one out. In fact, it turned to be more similar to ‘Petite maman’, her last directorial effort, which was also a critical success, even if it didn’t really work for me. Still, in this case, there is no doubt that ZoĂ© HĂ©ran gave here an outstanding performance. I mean, there are countless movies during which a man pretends to be a woman or the other way around, especially in the body swap genre, but it is most of the time rather pathetic and rarely convincing. However, with this movie, HĂ©ran behaved and moved exactly like a young boy would do, it was just pitch-perfect, and in fact it was hands down the best performance of a person acting like the other sex. Unfortunately, it’s too bad that the movie itself didn’t have much else to offer. I mean, basically, you see her hanging around with her friends and playing for pretty much 3/4 of the duration and even if this is minimalist approach was not bad, it was also hardly satisfying (I had basically the same issue with ‘Petite maman’). For example, they could have developed more her parents. I mean, didn’t they see how androgynous their girl was becoming? Didn’t they talk about it when they were together? Of course, the reaction of her mother was crushing and so humiliating, as if she was handling some broken window that needed to be fixed right away. However, it was the tricky thing, since they spent so little time with the parents, you never get the opportunity to properly analyze this reaction. On the other hand, how her little sister figure out the whole situation in a split second and smoothly accepted this new world order was pure gold. It was maybe too good to be true but it was still quite beautiful and inspiring. Anyway, to conclude, even if it didn’t completely work for me, it was still a solid drama and it is definitely worth a look. 


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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 8 months ago on 14 June 2022 09:03 (A review of Good Kids)

To be honest, I had no idea what to expect from this flick but since I have a weak spot for Ashley Judd and Zoey Deutch, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, it turned out to be basically the same concept as in ‘Booksmart’ but it wasn’t a bad thing, in the contrary. Indeed, there is one thing that did bother me with ‘Booksmart’, which was a critical success when it was released while this movie barely got noticed, was the fact it took so damned long for these girls to finally get to a wild party. Here, they didn’t make the same mistake and, right from the beginning, this gang really got some fun which was a much better approach. Unfortunately, I’m afraid the damned thing still didn’t really work though. The first issue was that, even though it wa great idea that a girl was included in this group, Zoey Deutch was unfortunately completely miscast. Indeed, there is no way that such a cute, even gorgeous, girl would have never been noticed by her best friends but also any other guy at school or in her neighborhood. Another problem was that, instead of giving each one in this group some time and attention to discover themselves during this last summer, they focused mostly on Andy who got involved in such really far-fetched subplots. Sure, it was fine that he had sex with Ashley Judd’s character, why not? But having sex with every single member of his tennis club as a gigolo was rather moronic. It wasn’t the only thing, he also managed to get his superhot girlfriend coming from India which was another weird and underwhelming subplot. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, this group of friends did feel genuine so it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre. 



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An average movie

Posted : 2 years, 9 months ago on 12 June 2022 09:29 (A review of Insidious: Chapter 3)

Even though it does have a decent reputation, I have to admit that I have never been a huge fan of the ‘Insidious’ franchise but, since this 3rd chapter was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, the fact that I didn’t remember at all the previous installments didn’t matter much since it turned out to be a prequel which, by the way, has become apparently one of the most popular gimmicks in the horror genre. In this case, it allowed them to bring back Elise who died in Chapter 2 (I think?) which probably did please the fans. Anyway, I have to admit that it was not bad but, like the rest of this franchise, I will probably forget most of it within a couple of days. Coming back on Elise, it was fairly annoying that she kept saying that she wouldn’t use her psychic powers all along when these powers were the only reason why she was included in this story. Such an annoying approach
 It’s like all these action flicks with some martial-arts master who refuses to fight. It was also rather weird that the main victim was basically crippled as it clearly limited their option narratively speaking. I mean, I have to admit that the fact that she couldn’t run away made her situation even more precarious and eve more spooky but how many scenes can you give with her being scared sh*tless in her bed? Finally, what was the deal with this demon with his breathing mask? Can demons get lung cancer? One explanation would be that Elise was actually mistaken, that it was a ghost after all and not a demon. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of it flaws, I have to admit that it was actually watchable after all and it is worth a look, at least, if you really like the genre. 



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