Saturday 9 June 2018
permalinkAlthough interesting at the beginning, the movie quickly slips into a collection of artistic vignettes where there is less and less plot to focus on, eventually delivering underwhelming pay-offs to some of the intrigues raised in the first half.
Friday 8 June 2018
permalinkThis is the movie that Steven Soderbergh shot with an iPhone, to celebrate how such accessible mean of filming marks the democratization of film-making. Well, judging from the result, this is mostly the democratization of 90s-like serie-B film-making. This is bullshit anyway, since the hardest parts of film-making are sound recording and acting. Anyone can buy a reflex camera with nice video support for not that much more than an iPhone and record close to professional-grade videos. So this should definitely be taken as an experiment rather than anything else. Anyway, the screenplay is excellent and the cast, lead by Claire Foy, is very good. Steven Soderberg delivers a solid thriller, as usual, and even knows how to exploit the exotic filming format at hand to make it consistent with the thematics of the movie. Cool.
Friday 8 June 2018
permalinkIt's about two girls. One of them is a sociopath and has no feelings. The other one is normal, but she happens to despise her step-dad. So the first one casually asks why she doesn't simply murder her step-dad. The story is clever in that the sociopath one is presented as so cold and pragmatic she achieves whatever she wants, but she has a big weakness: because of her inability to feel emotions, she assumes other people act rationally too (as in a cost/benefit analysis) and has a hard time processing how other people's emotions will interfere with her plans. The movie is very well-made, but it lacks some icing to make it truly excellent. In particular, there is no great scene that stands out, and the resolution fizzles out a bit. In any case, I'll keep an eye on the director, who makes an impressive directorial debut, and on the two lead actresses (Olivia Cooke, whom you may have seen in Ready Player One, and Anya Taylor-Joy, in Split), both definitely very good.
Wednesday 30 May 2018
permalinkPoor man's Arrival approaches DNA the same way astrology approaches astronomy, and we must wait until the final act for the director to finally take his LSD shot and reveal his true intentions, which are, obviously, to put pieces of country music guitar as a soundtrack to a science-fiction movie. The credits visuals are very nice.
Sunday 20 May 2018
permalinkThe surface-level narration breaks down in unison with the emotional meltdown of the lead character played by a marvelous Jennifer Lawrence. The film can be seen as the unreliable testimony of a woman in state of shock, each exaggeration and inconsistency being exploited to draw the very ambitious metaphor that lies beneath. The result is a spectacular and intensively emotional piece of cinema that leaves an indelible mark on the mind. Fascinating.
Thursday 17 May 2018
permalinkThis takes place into a Zack Snyder's type of world with dark alleys and buzzing neons, and I can only enjoy this type of movies up to some limited value. Margot Robbie killing it as much as the setting allows her to.
Saturday 12 May 2018
permalinkA thoughtful look at a familial crisis in contemporary Iran. The directing is clever and the acting excellent, especially from lead actor Payman Maadi. This is high quality cinema, keeping the story somewhat suspenseful all while having a humanist view of the characters and the context they're evolving into.
Thursday 10 May 2018
permalinkThe latest garbage from Marvel, where uncharismatic characters talk mythological origins nobody gives a shit about and you can know how dramatic it's supposed to be by measuring the inverse Chris-Pratt-jokes-per-minute
Sunday 6 May 2018
permalinkThe obsessional usage of the long-take (the movie is one long take, although with ellipsis) allows some spectacular context switches all while maintaining continuity, which is splendid. All the characters are more or less crazy and it all turns into an exquisite cacophony.
Monday 30 April 2018
permalinkHomework, obviously, although the epic poster with the Brooklyn Bridge drove me to it as much as the film's cult status. It's an interminable three-acts saga on organized crime whose first act and its poetry on childhood and teenagehood is the only one that I found bearable. They also screw up big time when casting the actress to play the adult Deborah, the overwhelming proof being the comparison between Elizabeth McGovern and adult Jennifer Connely.
Sunday 1 April 2018
permalinkLieutenant Colonel Benjamin Vandervoort: 3 million men penned up on this island all over England in staging areas like this. We're on the threshold of the most crucial day of our times. 3 million men out there, keyed up, just waiting for that big step-off. We aren't exactly alone. Notify the men, full packs and equipment 1400 hours.
Apparently « Show, don't tell » wasn't exactly the motto of this theatrical history educative package.
Wednesday 7 March 2018
permalinkSome shit American comedy features a retarted teenager masturbating into a pie and nobody bats an eye. An intelligent movie features a touching teenager masturbating into a peach and suddenly everyone loses their minds.
Wednesday 7 March 2018
permalinkThis shitty composite is not convincing me a second the clown is actually in the sewer. Also there is a fight between two groups of kids where they throw rocks at each others. Don't do that kids it's very dangerous!
Wednesday 28 February 2018
permalinkMargot Robbie produces an original movie on the very bankable subject of ice skating, where she plays the lead whose 80s' style of clothes and hairstyle showcase the latest sexy fashion, telling the story of a 80s' scandal few people remember. The movie, which is amazing, proceeds to win four times its budget, be nominated for multiple Oscars and is acclaimed by the critic. Beware Hollywood, because this woman is going places.
Sunday 25 February 2018
permalinkI wasn't convinced a second of this love story. It all unrolls way too fast. She must be a maniac to fall that fast and desperately for a stupid fishman. Also there is this weird shot where the fishman is holding her in his arms and he's very muscular and she's like protected by him. Del Toro obviously wanted this iconic shot but the imagery of the powerful protector for the fragile woman comes out as very weird in the movie's context.
Sunday 25 February 2018
permalinkIn the vein of Stronger, I like those little movies depicting real incidents and real people. They're often the occasion to discover some interesting facts or professions, firefighters in this case. I didn't know the real story and the ending moved me very much..
Sunday 25 February 2018
permalinkSpielberg casually redefining the entire war genre. You don't have much time to think about it because the proximity with soldiers and the unforgiving depiction of the horrors of war are flooring you the whole time. It's captivating.
Thursday 15 February 2018
permalinkSo this is the cinematographic adaptation of the Annoying Facebook Girl meme. How attaching she is, cheating her way to NYU and making people call her this ridiculous name like an obnoxious self-entitled teenager. This film doesn't make you want to have kid, by fear they might turn like her once they reach teenagehood.
Sunday 7 January 2018
permalinkThis was a total identification failure for me. Generally I highly doubt the productivity of stunts and more specifically violent ones. It's not clear to me whether what was really happening is a real try at changing things or just making as much turmoil as possible before dying. The movie doesn't even answer that, and choses the long and depressive path of close depiction of death instead. I couldn't figure out how to enjoy it no matter from what angle I approached it.
Wednesday 20 December 2017
permalinkIt lost me at the moment Luke Skywalker throws the sabre-laser that was the epic McGuffin finishing the last episode, which is a clear way from Disney to communicate that they don't give a shit anymore
Saturday 9 December 2017
permalinkAmong their recent low-effort sequels, this original gem is welcome from Pixar, and it delivers. The stream of colorful visuals is stunning, the exploration of Mexican culture is original and interesting and it's sealed with the good old Pixar emotional hammer that makes you leave a few tears behind your 3D glasses. Truly good.
Saturday 4 November 2017
permalinkTerrence Malick has reached his final form, the one of total freedom and no production control at all. The guy gets lost in whatever music festival, big estate, empty open-spaces, receptions and whatnots, filming A/A+ actors and actresses wandering around and mumbling shit. The wide-angle lens that distorts the edges of the frame, making it not even that good-looking anymore, is a good symbol for the overdose of a cloying formula.
Friday 20 October 2017
permalinkSecond movie in my J.C. Chandor streak, and an excellent one. There is one character and 4 or 5 lines of monologue in this movie, the well-crafted directing and poignant performance from Robert Redford doing all the heavy lifting, and lifting it up well.
Friday 20 October 2017
permalinkLast movie in my J.C. Chandor streak, and again a very good one. Very interesting inside perspective of the onset of the 2007 financial crisis, more punchy and approachable than the long and analytic Big Short.
Saturday 14 October 2017
permalinkLet me introduce you to Wonder Woman.
Coming from an island of women only, a man has to show her how to behave in the real world. He also makes sure she's not too much distracted by cute babies or wounded soldiers she wants to help. When she tells about some bizarre God stuff, the man needs to filter out the bullshit and convert it to an actual goal. When she's making a big scene because too much violence in this world and peace is better than war, the man needs to calm her down. She wakes up from a night in a basic boat, her mascara perfectly made. She enters the battlefield like she entered a fashion podium, in slow motion please. She charges at a bad guy, destroying the bell tower of a church, creating a havoc full of dust and dirt, but her hairstyle is still up to an advertisement for a shampoo.
For a self-advertised feminist movie, it makes all efforts possible so that it could be confused with a casually sexist one. As for the content itself, it's the latest issue from DC Garbage Studios.
Friday 6 October 2017
permalinkThe stunning cinematography beautifying depressive Polish sets is consistent with the touching view on the unexciting subject of a young woman who is about to take her vows to God. Not my cup of tea overall, but I can't say it's bad.
Sunday 10 September 2017
permalinkI think it's the first Disney where I actively enjoyed the songs instead of waiting for them to finish so that the narration could carry on. I then listened to the album in loop like a little girl. The movie is okay-ish.
Sunday 10 September 2017
permalinkThis is difficult to rate. The movie achieves its goal perfectly, but I'm not sure I like it. It's frightening, but not usual-horror-film-frightening. The story mixes dead serious subjects, making it quite disturbing and dark. In the end, although I recognize the performance, it repulsed me more than anything else.
Sunday 20 August 2017
permalinkThe danger of giving Oscars to fresh and upcoming comedians on their first widely recognized movie is that they then rest on their laurels and are satisfied with blockbusters. This is how you get the brilliant Brie Larson to switch from Room to Kong: Skull Island. Same deal with Alicia Vikander in A Danish Girl and then Tomb Raider. Compare that to Leonardo DiCaprio who had to do an exhaustive tour of all the greatest contemporary directors and thoughtful roles before getting his precious one. It was a long con from the Academy to keep him up to his talent all along! Now shut up and take my money and let me watch this bad Samuel L. Jackson motherfucker fight the gigantic Kong.
Sunday 6 August 2017
permalinkFaut le voir pour comprendre les références autour de soi, et il faut dire que c'est bien marrant. J'ai toujours du mal avec ces comédies où le seul intérêt est d'attendre la prochaine pitrerie du comédien et qui sont de qualité nulle outre mesure. Elles semblent appartenir à un art entièrement différent qui, par simple coincidence, partagent avec le cinéma le fait d'être filmées.
Friday 29 June 2018
permalinkSo this is it, I never watch an adventure blockbuster ever again. The whole movie is so dull. There literally is a bicycle race and then a race between Lara Croft and petty thieves. WTF is this shit.