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CollectionsAn average movie
Posted : 3 months, 1 week ago on 15 January 2025 01:49
(A review of Prisoner's Daughter)To be honest, I wasnât 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 do think that the story definitely had some potential. Indeed, even if many people might not agree, I do think that almost everybody should have another shot in life, whatever horrible things they might have done during their lifetime and I think it was well displayed in this movie. Still, even though the approach was fairly realistic, it probably should have been darker, at least, on the edges. I mean, the guy used to be basically a ruthless killer, he pretty much the ruined at least the childhood but probably most of the entire life of his daughter. However, they focused only on the fact that he was suddenly, at the very end of his life, becoming the father and the grand-father of the year, which was, I have to admit it, touching, but, in my opinion, it was actually only half of the story. Itâs only afterward that I discovered that this movie was actually directed by Catherine Hardwicke and, if she could have used the same sharp edginess that she displayed in âThirteenâ, I think this movie could have been pretty awesome. On the other hand, she made this very strong directorial debut already 20 years ago and her career was not really stellar afterwards. Concerning the actors involved, I have noticed that Brian Cox got most of the praises (itâs true, the guy was pretty good here), Kate Beckinsale was actually not bad at all and I think she was actually quite convincing. To be honest, the way her character was telling how much she loved her father at the end was too much a stretch comparing with where she stood at the beginning of the movie but it wasnât Beckinsaleâs fault. Anyway, to conclude, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it turned out to be a decent drama and I think it is worth a look.
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A very good movie
Posted : 3 months, 1 week ago on 14 January 2025 12:12
(A review of The Parson's Widow)To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, I have to admit that I was actually really impressed by this movie and, in fact, it might even of the best silent features I have seen lately, no less than that. Since I always watch movies with as little information as possible, it took me about 10 mins to figure out what was actually going on but, then, I was completely into the damned thing. First of all, it was a pretty neat time capsule showing how life must have been back then in Sweden and I wonder if it was supposed to be a contemporary picture but I couldnât figure this out, even after watching this movie. Furthermore, the version I saw on Netflix was restored, it looked really good and it made me realized that the movies from the 20âs I saw on YouTube lately were actually seriously messed up. However, what probably impressed me the most with this movie was how hilarious it actually turned out to be. By now, I have seen my share of silent comedies with Charles Chapin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy or Roscoe Arbuckle but this was something completely different though and, therefore, quite fascinating. Furthermore, in my opinion, the (silent) acting was also pretty good, especially from Einar Röd and Hildur Carlberg. It is also interesting how drastically different this movie was from âLa passion de Jeanne d'Arcâ which is rightfully considered as Carl Theodor Dreyerâs magnum opus and easily one of the best silent movies ever made. Anyway, to conclude, even if the damned thing might be quite obscure, I really loved it and I think it is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 13 January 2025 11:38
(A review of Wicked)To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it had been a big critical and commercial success, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, at least, this movie made me want to re-watch âThe Wizard of Ozâ which I saw only once more than 10 years ago. Concerning âWickedâ, obviously, I had heard about the successful Broadway musical but, during the movie, I had some doubts about the whole concept. I mean, from what I remembered from âThe Wizard of Ozâ, the Wicked Witch of the West was basically the bad guy but, here, they displayed Elphaba as a gifted innocent girl who was scorn by society because of her skin color. So, we spent already 150 mins (and we still have a 2nd part to go through...) during which they tried to convince us how wonderful and misunderstood Elphaba was but we know she will become eventually evil so whatâs the point then? Anyway, as you can see, I didnât care much about the damned thing. Even the songs didnât really impress me. At least, I have to admit that Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande were both pretty good and the movie worked the most when it was focusing on their relationship. Concerning the visuals, sure, it looked fine but, by now, I have seen my share of gorgeous movies with top-notch CGI so, to be honest, I didn't really dazzle me even in this area. One last thing that bothered me was the fact that this movie is basically about racism but, even though the character is green, for this adaptation, they chose a black actress to play Elphaba. However, can you imagine if the character would have been black like Erivo actually is, instead of green? It would have been pretty messed up but, making the character green, it felt as if they made the whole problematic easier to swallow, too easy if you would ask me. Anyway, to conclude, since Iâm not a huge fan of musicals, I was probably not the right audience for this movie (Nick, my step-son, really enjoyed it for example) and I have to admit that it is probably worth a look, especially if you really like the genre.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 10 January 2025 01:28
(A review of Megalopolis)When I heard that Francis Ford Coppola was making a come-back with a passion project he had been working on-and-off for decades, it instantly became a big priority for me. Well, I wish I could say it had been worth the wait but, to be honest, it was not really the case, Iâm afraid. I mean, in contrary to some viewers, I donât think it wasnât a total disaster but it seems that the great master really indulged himself to do whatever he wanted regardless if it might alienate the audience or not. Eventually, the end-result was, at best, some kind of feverish dream and, at worst, the most expensive student movie I have ever seen. Indeed, like any student movie, there were some interesting ideas and so much creativity displayed but, also like any student movie, most of it was also terribly pretentious though. One thing that bothered me was that this Cesar Catilina was supposed to be some kind of master architect but, even though I have absolute no knowledge about this Art, he didnât seem to be a convincing architect at all. The other thing that I found so pretentious was that, because the guy was so freaking brilliant, the most gorgeous woman involved (played by the lovely Nathalie Emmanuel) of course had to fall completely in love with him. And, yet, I do believe that Coppola had a really genuine wish to change the traditional way of making a movie, this approach was really commendable and, only therefore, the guy did get some extra points from me. Anyway, to conclude, even if I was like the most of us rather disappointed by this so-called come-back, I still think it is worth a look but donât expect a classic like âThe Godfatherâ or âApocalypse Nowâ and be prepared to watch something seriously experimental instead.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 9 January 2025 11:56
(A review of Tol'able David)To be honest, I have no idea how this movie actually did end up in my queue. I guess I was looking for some movies from 1921 for one of my movie projects, I bumped into it on YouTube and I thought I might as well check it out. Anyway, even though I looked it up, I'm still not sure what to make of this title. Did it mean that David was âtolerableâ or âacceptableâ maybe? Anyway, it was a typical quaint movie that they used to make back then, at least, the beginning. Concerning the plot, it was basically about a young boy who wanted to prove to himself and his community that he was a man. Well, at some point, it became clear that the way to reach this end-result was to avenge his brother and his father and, indeed, he did end up killing no less than 3 men more or less in cold blood at the end. That this event might be the cause for any kind of celebration was, in my opinion, rather deplorable but I guess it might be expected from a country who has been struggling with gun control ever since their Constitution has been published. Concerning the rest of the movie, it was not bad at all though. Indeed, such vintage features, even some vastly superior movies than this one, have the tendency to be slightly or even really disjointed but this one was actually well put together, at least, for a movie which was made more than 100 years ago. Richard Barthelmess was also praised for his performance and I have to admit that he was pretty good even if, at 26 years old, he was maybe 10 years older than his character was. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, it was still a decent watch and I think it is worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 8 January 2025 11:42
(A review of November Criminals)To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but, since I have a weak spot for ChloĂ« Grace Moretz and since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Well, unfortunately, even though Moretz was really charismatic as usual, Iâm afraid the damned thing turned out to be another really half-baked projects like maybe half of the movies she has done so far in her career. In this case, the whole thing actually did have some potential though. Indeed, there was something interesting about this teenager still grieving the loss of his mother who suddenly had to deal with the death of one of his friends. Of course, you could blame Ansel Elgort as he is not exactly the most inspiring actor of his generation but I donât think he was bad here though. I was not so sure either about the romantic relationship between his character and the character played by Moretz but, again, it wasnât the real issue with this movie. First of all, what the hell was this title? It seriously had nothing to do with the story and I thought it was rather misguiding. Eventually, the biggest problem with this movie was above all that the directing was completely tone-deaf. Basically, it was dealing with a really disturbed teenager, probably highly depressed, possibly with some autistic tendencies which was some pretty dark stuff but the director Sacha Gervasi kept constantly toning down the dark edges of this tale resulting with something with no spine whatsoever. To play the parents, they had some of the best actors around, David Strathairn and Catherine Keener, but there is not much they could with this material and they were not helped by the fact that their characters were barely developed whatsoever. Anyway, to conclude, even if I donât think it was a complete disaster, the damned thing was still pretty weak and I donât think it is really worth a look.Â
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A good movie
Posted : 3 months, 2 weeks ago on 7 January 2025 01:25
(A review of Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl)To be honest, I still havenât watched âChicken Run: Dawn of the Nuggetâ but there was no way I was going to miss this new Wallace & Gromit sequel. Well, after almost 20 years (wow⊠I didnât expect it to be so long ago, I feel so old nowâŠ), it was really neat to see these iconic characters again. As usual with Aardman and Nick Park, the animation was just top-notch and what these guys can do with stop-motion nowadays is still downright mind-blowing. After all these years, they have now decided to add some CGI as well to the mix and, while this mix was technically not bad, Iâm not sure I really cared for it though. And yet, even though Nick Park and his team definitely delivered the goods once again, to be honest, I have to admit that I wasnât exactly blown away though. Basically, the issue with this movie but also this whole franchise, was that the plot was just too similar to the previous movies. Indeed, Wallace had once again created a new daft invention which created a lot of trouble and there was also some criminal mastermind involved that W & G would have to stop somehow. I mean, I really loved âThe Wrong Trousersâ, this movie was a complete riot, but I wish they tried something really different in the movies that followed (For example, âA Grand Day Outâ is great and went into a completely different direction). The fact that Feathers McGraw made a come-back, 30 years after âThe Wrong Trousersâ, was maybe a neat idea but it didn't improve my feeling that they keep recycling over and over again the same concept. Anyway, to conclude, I still have a huge weak spot for these characters though and I think the damned thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre. Â
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A good movie
Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 6 January 2025 02:39
(A review of Nosferatu)Watching a horror flick with my filmclub has been a priority for me for quite a while and, since this movie had received some solid reviews, I thought it would be a suitable candidate for this experiment. Well, even though pretty much everyone in my filmclub completely dismissed this movie, I actually really enjoyed it though. Indeed, I have watched all the movies directed by Robert Eggers (we even watched his last movie âThe Northmanâ also with the filmclub), I really love his style and, once again, he didnât disappoint me here. Indeed, there was a nice dark gothic vibe and the damned thing was visually really neat. Concerning the actors involved, I thought that Bill Skarsgard was quite fascinating but I guess it might be a matter of taste because he was not exactly the most attractive vampire youâll ever see, in the contrary. At least, nobody could argue that Lily-Rose Depp was not good here. Indeed, I think there was something quite powerful and even quite spellbinding about her performance. The link between sex and vampirism was also interesting and it is something I always sensed in this genre but it was maybe the first movie I saw in which they explored this. Unfortunately, pretty much like with âThe Northmanâ, even though the damned thing was visually quite fascinating, Iâm afraid the story was just too generic though. Basically, it was the classic Dracula tale and, even though it did like the approach they took, it was still the same story I saw maybe 100 times before and, therefore, it was all rather predictable. Eventually, like the other movies directed by Eggers, it was still missing something to really blow me away. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, this guy keeps delivering some of the most artistic horror flicks out there and the damned thing is definitely worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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An average movie
Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 5 January 2025 07:58
(A review of Brian Banks)To be honest, I wasnât really sure what to expect from this flick but, since it was available on Netflix, I thought I might as well check it out. Following the #Metoo movement arguing that we should believe unequivocally all the victims of sex abuse, well, this movie displayed the danger of such an approach. Above all, it displayed once again how messed up the US judicial system actually is and it is also displayed how most people are pretty much condemned even before a trial actually did start. So, even if it was nothing really ground-breaking, it was a strong story but the movie itself was fairly average though. Indeed, the approach was just too generic and it felt pretty much like watching the Lifetime channel. For Tom Shadyac, it was his first directorial effort in 10 years and, even though it was commendable from him to go for a drama like this one, his directing was just terribly uninspired and uninspiring, I'm afraid. On the other hand, his biggest successes were some broad comedies starring Jim Carrey ('Ace Ventura', 'Liar Liar', 'Bruce Almighty') so we probably should lower our expectations with him. Concerning Aldis Hodge, I remembered his face but I couldn't remember where I saw him before but I have to admit that he was actually pretty good here. Unfortunately, he pretty much had to carry the whole thing on his shoulders as none of the other characters were developed whatsoever. Another reason why I wanted to watch this movie was because Morgan Freeman was also involved but he only had a cameo which turned out to be more distracting than anything else. Anyway, to conclude, in spite of its flaws, I have to admit that it was still a decent story and I think it is worth a look, at least, if you like the genre.
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An average movie
Posted : 3 months, 3 weeks ago on 4 January 2025 04:54
(A review of The Mighty Ducks)I didnât grow up with this movie but, since it was available on Disney+ and since it seemed to have a decent reputation, I thought I might as well finally watch it. To be honest, I have to admit that it was not bad after all. Sure, it is a rather generic sports feature with a grumpy guy forced to train a team and both sides initially couldnât stand each other but they eventually bonded and of course they won sone games, even some important final in this case. In fact, it was one thing that slightly bothered me. Indeed, this team went the whole way from being some seemingly unredeemable losers to actually winning the title and, in my opinion, the difference between where this team stood at the beginning and where they stood at the end was too a much stretch. I think it would have worked better if they would have honorably lost along way. On top of that, a major point of the movie was to show that having a great time was much more important than actually winning, especially if you have to feel miserable during the process, but since they won after all, they actually pretty much ruined the main reason why this movie was actually made in the first place. Still, even though the end-result was pretty generic and predictable, some of the issues above all involving Gordon Bombay were not bad. Indeed, he began as a hockey prodigy as a kid but this passion was ruined by basically some bad coaching and to see him going back to the game and coach these kids, connecting again with the sport he once loved, might be cheesy but I thought it was actually touching and well handled. The relationship between him and the single mother of one of his players might seem unnecessary but it was not bad either. Anyway, to conclude, even if it is definitely not a masterpiece, I understand why it is a childhood favorites for many and it is actually worth a look, especially if you like the genre.Â
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