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Without Remorse (2021)
They manage to make a bad movie of this fantastic novel
If you have read No Remorse from Tom Clancy, you probably know that it is one of his best books. The story is full of ups and downs, the action is there and the build up to the final actions is amazing.
Now this adaptation is of course hard to do and the production has decided to modernise the story.
Visually it is bad as one can tell it was shot in studios. The shooting scenes are ok but the sound of shots is just so low.
The first lines are trying to be funny and badass but are just lame. Jack Ryan is not credible at all.
A more personal opinion is that the story about the Syrian Government and Russian contractor is just a biased way to make a movie with modern politics.
The Magician's Elephant (2023)
Bad attempt at replicating Frozen.
Firstly the movie has a lot of magic to the point that the viewer can be fed up. Secondly the plot Is way too complicated for children and makes the movie boring very quickly. One feels like the writers didn't really know when the main action was going to kick in.
While the scenery is interesting and a mix of European scenery with a glimpse of Asian, the general population is too much Netflix friendly (I guess the many ones who know, know what I am taking about). In fact as I am writing this, we could say this is the cast of Bridgerton mixed up with the Hunchback of Notre Dame.
In terms of visual, it is really well done with a few scenes that could be inspired by IMF or Matrix (slow mo).
From a humor point of view, nothing is really funny.
Kitz (2021)
So bad I want to cry
Firstly this is so far from reality it should be science fiction. I have been in Kitzbuhel and you would never find anything close to that soap.
The music is horrible also, it is like applying True Blood's ambiance to a bad soap.
How can people compare this to Little White Lies?
Emily in Paris (2020)
So many clichés
I thought I had seen the worst with Bridgerton but this is as bad.
Firstly as a Parisian, I would love to see the same things as Emily... unfortunately the city is not like this anymore.
Secondly the wokism of this series is startling. You have to have a super open mind to accept all the decisions of this show. Emily also is nearly body shaming anyone by her body features but we cannot really rate her for that.
The level of the plots in on par with Sex and the City 3.
Behind Enemy Lines (2017)
Interesting movie
The movie is interesting and is like a story how things can go horribly wrong like a horror movie.
The last part is a bit rubbish with the guy hiding the crimes done there... 75 years after Nuremberg show trials I think we are not discovering anything new.
Thunderbolt (1947)
Excellent for aviation lovers and also realists
As a private pilot, I really liked the aviation scene and the P47 is such an ugly impressive plane.
Great scenes to see in colour.
I am particularly shocked by the way the strafing was done. What's the point of shooting fields, cattle's or trains? There were probability civilians in it. Can't be Huns everywhere.
Game of Thrones: Mother's Mercy (2015)
Again blood and sex vs veracity
I have read the books and the good thing about them is that the story makes sense, the characters are articulated and evolve throughout the book and there is no intention to exaggerate the amount of blood and sex.
The series have been slowly straying from the main book stories which perfectly makes sense from a commercial point of view. If you want to sell to the public, to have a buzz in the social medias (such as installing camera filming an audience which reacts to the death of some famous characters) well the producers have understood it all.
But if you like the story because it has a lot of interesting aspects which are taken from real history (of the Roys Maudits in France), some characters that can change in better or not, a bit of magic and disguised hints of the evil, you are better watching a few episodes of season 1 and there you have an imaginative basis to read the books.
That episode is a shame as it takes so much independence from the books, it is painful to watch.
Suite Française (2014)
Was expecting the usual clichés but much better
I was reluctant to see a movie on this subject (being French) as it is a super troubled time of our history and Hollywood produced movies (hello Marlon Brando) would generally give one side of the history. For example I was expecting all frenchies to be collaborators, all Germans to be ruthless Nazis... and it was more subtle than this.
Most people would think that all Germans were Nazi party members, were being harsh with the french population and that the resistance was strong. A bit of reading of reading would show as in the movie that the general attitude of the Germans was good, and the resistance only started in big numbers (when the communists joined) after June 1941 when Germany invaded the Soviet union.
Anyway, most of the characters are good and representative of what you find in history book.
I would not give a 7 as the story is a bit classic and quite to be expected.
Unbroken (2014)
Surprisingly empty of most classic clichés
I did not know what to expect but certainly something average considered it was done by an actress whom I see sometimes being the paid idiot to defend stupid causes she has no idea about such as conflicts in the third world ... However, I have found that the movie was actually good and lacking the typical cliché of crazy Nazis.. and in fact in the Berlin Olympics there is none of it which is great for a Hollywood produced movie.
Another interest aspect of the movie is that it does not show so much chest pumping "Americanism" where people are taught blindly that they are the best in the world ... it does seem to be just a simple story of someone who was both superhuman and also super lucky.
The movie is in fact better than Fury where her husband has the main character.
American Sniper (2014)
Fair adaptation on screen of bestseller, sadly part of propaganda
As a fan of Clint Eastwood movies as a director and actor I have been disappointed by this movie because in spite of great action and war scenes which are unusual in the director's latest production, it does not go into questioning why great warriors like Kyle think and act like this...
The movie is too much of the simple attitude American people have about wars, good and evil. To support the Global War on Terror that has been lasting for 13 years this message has to be repeated by numerous politicians, pundits and media propagandists. This is pretty well represented in the movie where Chris thinks that he needs to protect his country by fighting in Irak or risk that the locals might come to San Diego. It goes along with the many times heard motto "they hate us for our freedom". Chris thinks of himself also as a crusader and he sports tattoo with the Christian cross of the crusaders time. One has to realise that without critical thinking it is very easy to fall into this black and white analysis of the world. And sadly, very few directors have treated this subject. I can only think of Paul Greengrass in Greenzone.
The movie is a very good representation of the book written by Chris and for this Eastwood can take the credit for it. However it is used as a propaganda tool by being nominated at the Oscars to support questionable foreign interventions. Even though it shows the effect of war on soldiers such as wounds, death and mental illness, it only stays at the individual's level and does not mention the effect on society. It is always interesting to analyse why a specific movie is promoted at some awards ceremony; what is the message "the system" is trying to send to the masses?
Friday Night Lights (2004)
Someone alien to American football
Being french (did I hear French? where is the guillotine?) I watched this movie as I am a great fan of both Peter Berg and Billy Bob Thornton (especially as a coach in a comedy or a drama). I am a stranger to American football as it is not on TV in Europe in spite of a few attempts.
For a foreigner, it is such a great experience to watch this movie as it shows a few things that are so different to our world in ol' Europe and how sport, its history and how it is integrated into culture in some countries such as England or the US.
It is interesting also in a sense that it shows that in poor areas of the US, the American dream is only possible through getting in a college and may be in a sport team and one is at the mercy of a potential debilitating injury.
The pressure of "old hands" players who know best on the coach, the people outside of the game who also think they know is marvellous.
Anyway, if you do not know anything about American culture and its sport, it is probably one of the best movie to watch.
The Interview (2014)
SoaD type of review: Steal this movie
This is a typical movie with Seth Rogen as the writer, cast as main character and with his buddies. So if you liked This is the End, Knocked Up, The Neighbors, you will like it.
If you like really funny comedies as done by Adam McKay you will be disappointed. A lot of jokes are typical below the belt style. There are some funny ones and I smiled a few times.
But the main attraction of this movie is the marketing stunt they pulled to market it. It went up all the way to the idiots at the White House. So for this reason, I think it is justified to steal this movie as it put in danger the security of most people just to market a Seth Rogen and friends movie.
Primal Fear (1996)
Another anti catholic movie
This started as a nice police and courtroom movie with a lot of events making us changing our opinion on the culprit of the crime. But again it turns out to be a classic movie where priests, bishops are all sexually abusing kids. Richard Gere and Edward Norton have great roles in this movie. We could say that the other characters painting the catholic Attorney, the mafiosi (from South America) are all too much of clichés. If you do have a bit of time to waste and if you do not have critical thinking about why the Catholic Church is always attacked Hollywood-produced movie, I think you can watch this movie. If you have a bit of critical thinking and your time is a bit short, do not watch it. I regret sometimes to see great actors turning into propaganda instruments for certain people. Brad Pitt did this recently.
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
Violent wet dream
This movie is the wet dream of a certain class of people who might have heard about the horrors of WWII from relatives. This is surely the wet dreams of brainwashed people who think they know what happened during WWII. Without even going too much about the clichés that all Germans or almost all are brutal convicts, with cold faces, this movie is trying to induce into us the meaning of revenge. Firstly because they could not revenge during the war and secondly because it might help to bring forward more actual events and points of tensions in the World today. Like all Tarantino's productions this movie is violent and in fact does not show the Jews under such a nice aspect as they are in fact just applying the Talon's law: one eye for an eye. I have news for you, 1 bln catholics disagree with this law and forgiveness is something that should be in fact more promoted as it is a gift (read: love) and this should help all the people with a good nature which is I believe the case for most of us ... and certainly not Hollywood producers. If you like just violent movies, you should watch it it is great. If you have a critical mind and do not want to give money to producers doing propaganda, do not watch this movie.
The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Unfinished meal
I have found the movie a bit slow compared to the previous trilogy and it seemed to me that there is like 30 min lacking as no action to punish the program's directors has been taken. Some parts of the movie are very slow and does not fit well with the constant action that we have grown accustomed to when Greengrass was at the helm. I think the producers should have in mind when tackling Bourne's movies that it is directly competing with James Bond, hence a bit more work is required. The fighting scenes are really good although the villain's character is rather unimpressive save for his motorbike riding skills. Jeremy Rinner is an excellent replacement for Matt Damon.
One excellent thing about the movie is that it deals with mind control and various experiments that may (or may have not) been taken at various intelligence agencies about this. I think it deals with that subject in a better way than the Manchurian candidate.
The 40 Year Old Virgin (2005)
such good expectations - disappointed in the end
We all know that having big expectations for a movie from the buzz is bad. But I have laughed a few times, but that's all. It's a good movie but it's not that funny. Steve is a really good actor when he is with Jim Carrey or the SNL frat pack, and may be also here.
But the worse thing in the movie is there is too much moral, like American Pie. Even if this seems to be completely funny and controversial there is still a direction, a moral and that is what it is so predictable. They say a few toilet humor jokes and they never get beyond this. If you want a break thru, you need to stay always out of the moral thing (without going too far, just because it is cool to stun people), Dumb and Dumbers, National Lampoon's, ZAZ movies, Not Another Teen Movie , Old School were all good because they don't try to give a message every one agrees on.
I think that the reason people have really loved it that there are may be a much higher number of virgins than we think.
The best scene is when he spend all the condoms and even have one on the foot.