El JhOjo's junkyard

Transformers: Dark Of The Moon

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 23:05:00 +0000

OK, when I came out of the 2nd Transformers movies, I did promised myself that I wouldn't go and see the 3rd. The action was better than the 1st (which I enjoyed quite a lot) but the price to pay was too high: too much annoying parents, too much gun porn and worse than the rest, clanging metallic balls...

But then the reviews came in saying there was (almost) nothing of these in the 3rd. So I let myself tricked again.
Because when Michae Bay concentrates on filming all sorts of things exploding, there litterally no one who can beat him.
Well I'm happy to say that my eyes were unscathed, coming out of the cinema. And it's true that the annoying stuff has been toned down. That was a relief...
The parents are still there, but in just a few short scenes, nothing too heavy.
There are still useless robot sidekicks, but at least they don't fart.

As for all sorts of shit blowing up, you get that in spades. And in true 3D, with the editing toned down (otherwise our poor eyes wouldn't cope), it's breathtaking at times. Long sequences of robots in full frame beating the shit out of each other, Chicago burned down to the ground... Awesome!
One other good surprise is that the story, on the whole almost make sense! I have to admit I quite liked the links with the moon landing and Tchernobyl...
When I say "almost make sense", you have to bear in mind that it's all in the "Bay-verse", a world in which all girls are hotties (btw, I preferred Megan), all cars are extremely expensive, all brands are on full display, etc.
So of course plot point get dropped then picked up from nowhere, but man did I say the robots were awesome?

Also, the military-porn was toned down adn it's quite cool to see a group of people bringing down a decepticon (as opposed to shit loads of tanks and helicopters). I guess it keeps the human factor.

Another amazing thing is to see those fabulous actors (John Turturro, Frances McDormand, John F@cking Malkovitch!) in there, overacting their heart out... I guess it doesn't really add to the movie, but it does add to this sense of awe: there's nothing Bay stops at. He takes it all. No prisonner.
And it doesn't matter that people get to slide off the side of a building that's falling onto another one and (almost) all manage to make it alive. What matters is that, watching this nonsense, you're just clinging to your seat, mouthing "oh shit". That's how good that man is.

Oh Michael, I love it when you let my IQ drop like that...

X-Men: First Class

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I have to say I had some expectations for this one.
Because I love the X-Men and that Matthew Vaughn (who did a pretty great job on KICK-ASS) was helming it. I mean it's been a while since X-Men 2, which was the last great movie about the characters (please don't mention Wolverine...).
An origina story to the whole thing wasn't the most appealing thing at first, but seeing the Prof X / Magneto relationship evolve had some good potential...

Well I have to say I was disappointed.
What makes this movie annoying is that there is a LOT of things to love there, lots of great ideas, but to me they were undermined by other annoyances.

The positives: McAvoy & Fassbender are great as Professor X and Magneto and their relationship works brilliantly. This is the core of the film, so it was important and I think they nailed it. Strangely, Magneto comes through as quite Wolverine-y (a loner out for revenge), but it works.
The character of Mystique also works, along with Beast, with the 2 characters struggling with their mutation.
Also, Kevin Bacon makes a great Sebastian Shaw, eventhough I felt he was underused.
The setting is also good, mixing up the events wit the cuban missile crisis is a clever turn.

So you have a good, menacing bad guy, a strong set of good guys, good relationships, so what went wrong?
For starters, I felt there was a lack of cool moments. I mean I haven't seen X-Men 2 in ages, but I can remember the opening with Nightcrawler's attack on the president, the attack on the X-Mansion, Pyro's pyrotechnics or Magneto's escape. Those were cool moments.
I didn't find any substantial one there. I mean it's the X-Men we're talking about, they can do awesome things, and the best we get is just Banshee flying around or Magneto lifting a submarine? They can do BETTER!

But even without this, I found there were scenes that just didn't work. The introduction with Magneto's mom's death for example. I just couldn't believe he wouldn't try to kill Shaw in his rage (I found Kevin Bacon's German accent impressive by the way, as were the ones Michael Fassbender put on show!). It didn't make sense to me. And that happened a few times during the movie. And it's such a turn off! I took me out, made me question what was going on and that's something I find deeply annoying.

And it's a shame, because there are plenty of good moments to counter balance those, but added to the lack of real "Wow factor", it just left me dissatisfied.
But I guess that could be just me. Because as I said, there's a lot to love in there. But I guess the whole movie just feels rushed. Like they just wanted to put it out and didn't take time to really think it through. If they had, I'm quite sure that it could have been the best in the series.
It didn't turn out that way however.

So I'd say it's still better than X-Men Last Stand (although this one has a few cool set pieces), but I would classify it as a missed opportunity...

Fast Five.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Mon, 30 May 2011 14:54:00 +0000

Deprivation of things you like can lead to ugly things.
Like here: not having been to the cinema for a while and having missed Hannah (which I really wanted to see) in the meantime, I just decided to see anything.

Fast Five seemed dumb enough and my fear of feeling dirty after watching was overcome by the fact that Bad Boys 2 is a movie I enjoy to watch from time to time. How worse could it be? But I can't say I wasn't slightly worried, as my image of the Fast & Furious franchise is that of automatically generated script and average action.

Not having seen any of the previous entries, I was also worried I might not get all the subtleties of the relationships between the various charaters. Just kidding.

Well I have to say I was VERY pleasantly surprised.
So of course, the script doesn't make any sense. If you look into it, it's a heist movie where they recruit a team of specialists, work out a plan and then do something completely different (not using the people for the skills they have).
But, really who cares?

Because the action IS cool. It's varied, well done and completely (and I mean completely) over the top. So I guess you have to have the right frame of mind. As far as I'm concerned, I was won over by the introductory scene where they make a bus trip over a car...
But yeah each set piece is better than the previous one, it's well shot (ie you know what's going on) and you can feel they made an effort to do something somewhat innovative with some cool concepts (even if it doesn't make sense, which again doesn't matter, as long as it's cool).

I haven't mentionned the actors. Well what can I say?
The girls are sexy and there's that chick from Chuck!
And there's Vin. Vin is awesome. He owns The Rock, he makes bungie jumps without the elastic, he gets girls with 2 stares and 3 words and he destroys LOADS of cars. Vin rocks.

So yeah as far as dumb actionners go (of the likes of Bad Boys 2, The Expendable), it's an entry well worth watching. If you're ready to let your IQ (and your audition) drop for a while (I think I've recovered now).

Thor

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:10:00 +0000

So another Marvel character...
Thor is an odd one on top of things, a true god in a sense when all others are normal guys to start with. So possibly less likeable...

So another product or a true success like Ironman? Well more the former I'm afraid. Don't get me wrong : it's good. The actors are really good and everything has the high production values that marvel has got us used to. Special effects are flawless and they convey the true massive scale of something like Asgard.
They also manage to make Thor very likeable.

But I guess the movie gets the problems of a 1st in a franchise. It needs to set up everything, gods and humans alike. As a consequence the human characters feel very 2ary, since the plot revolves around problems in Asgard.
Also the action is slightly ln the backburner, with the coolest bits at the beginning.

But that doesn't prevent the movie to be entirely highly enjoyable, with a nice setup towards the Avenger movie, which holds a lot of promises...

Oh yes one thing worth of note is that the 3D conversion was OK. That means that it didn't feel annoying. But it didn't feel necessary either.

Anyway, just Captain America to go now...

Source Code

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 14:10:00 +0000

This one went completely under my radar. Probably because I'm still yet to see Moon, despite being highly recommended...

Anyway, I somehow managed to catch this one and that was well worth it.
It's simply the best SF movie I've seen in ages.
The Groundhog Day premises is extremely well exploited and manages to be fresh (although some ground has been covered already). But the main success here is the coveralls treatment of the story. You just feel for the main character and the way all is shot has throw backs to gems like 12 Monkeys.

It's funny how because of this, compared to something like Inception (another brilliant mind bender), as much as I love Inception, I would still be tempted to give Source Code the sympathy vote.
Because it manages to give hardcore SF thrills while still being accessible, with an independant feel, and a big warm heart. That's how good it is...

I definitely need to see Moon....

Sucker Punch

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 11:24:00 +0000

Sucker Punch got me hooked whenever I saw the 1st trailer. Katana wielding girls against gatling equipped giant samurai? How much cooler can you get? This had "FILM OF THE YEAR" written all over it (for me at least).
The idea of Zack Snyder running loose on such material was hugely appealing.

I have to admit that the cold shower of the reviews did get me to slightly lower my expectations before I went in. However, as expected, they were wrong. But I'm grateful as that made me enjoy the movie even more!

Although I might already have seen something better this year (more on this later), and despite a few annoyances here or there, I just thoroughly enjoyed this crazy ride.
Snyder has got an incredible eye and his mastery of special effects make this piece a pure wonder to look at. He achieves a scale and ambition that only few can pretend to. I found some sceneries just jaw dropping.
And although he pushes the over the top slomo quite hard, it (almost) always looks just so cool it just works (for me at least).

On top of this visual feast, the movie also manages to be more clever than it looks. Sure, it's more about style than substance (it's pretty much always the case in his movies), don't expect Inception-like mind bends, but still the story and the layering is interesting (as here, the real story is told through a dream) and it nicely links the set pieces together. Did I mention they were awesomely cool?

So it's another awesome rollercoaster ride from Snyder...
Can't wait for his Superman...

Paul

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 12:43:00 +0000

OK, once again, I went to see this ages ago.
I just can't make time. Especially for reporting bad news: this one didn't really work for me.

It's a movie that I would have loved to love. Unfortunately, that didn't happen.
Don't get me wrong: there are a lot of qualities on display. I especially liked the Seth Rogen voiced alien and Jason Bateman as a stiff no nonsense FBI agent.

However, I don't know, I didn't laugh that much... Maybe it's because the movie didn't surprise me that much, which is crucial for laughs.
You see the pitch and you expect something and the movie just gives what you expected. That's fine, but as a consequence, I felt there was something missing.

On the upside you get a few cool references and punchlines, but overall I found too much to like but not enough to love.
I'm thrown back to The Other Guys which had a bit of that problem, but managed to deliver so good franks laughs along the way.

I love Pegg & Frost as a couple ( ;) ), but I didn't quite connect this time.
Maybe next time... !

True Grit

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 12:46:00 +0000

A new movie by the Coen brothers is always an event.

Given their habit to twist rules and genres, you never quite know what you're going to get especially since they also like to make lighter movies (Brun After Reading, Intolerable Cruelty spring to mind).
But you're always sure it will be beautiful and witty (I loved the 2 movies above, although much less than Miller's Crossing or No Country For Old Men, which are instant classics).

So what could they make of a remake of a John Wayne Western?

Well, in a slightly disappointing twist, True Grit feels like their most conventional film to date. Which is far from saying that it's bad. But somehow I missed this crazy touch that makes you really have no idea how it's all going to turn out.

Having said that, it's quite brilliant. The actors are perfect, cinematography stunning and the dialogs are nothing but a joy. I just had a big smile on my face for the whole thing.
Having said that it's also got its dark edge, with bursts of quite brutal violence, as you would expect from a western.

So it's an utterly enjoyable effort, definitely more relevant than their more minor efforts, but just a notch under their best.

In any case, certainly something that should be watched more than most movies out this year...

Black Swan

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 17:56:00 +0000

Another late report, I had to get them all in before True Grit next week...

There is so much to say about Aronofski's latest, that I think I'll keep this brief: this is an amazing piece of filmmaking.
Compared to his previous works, it sits somewhere between Pi & The Wrestler: it is part depiction of the life of a ballet dancer, part paranoiac trip (Polanski's Repulsion comes to mind also).

Natalie Portman is nothing short of incredible. She manages to be completely believable as a professional dancer, which is no cheap feat...

And Aronofski's direction is so viceral, it makes the movie something you feel as much as you watch.

Just brilliant.

The Green Hornet.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:00:00 +0000

OK, this is becoming slightly ridiculous.
I've been to this one nearly a month ago...
But I need to keep at it, especially when it's worth it.

Because when going into this I wasn't really sure I wanted to see this movie. I was taken by a sort of boredom of superheroes movies. There are just too many now. It doesn't quite feel as exiting as it used to be when X-Men, Spiderman were yet to come out.
Also, I'm quite a fan of Michel Gondry's work, but there's always a worry when a director with his background moves into Hollywood action flicks. Will he keep his personnality? Will his style fit action scenes? So I was bored and worried.

Yet, in that negative mindset, the movie was good enough that it won me over!

So it doesn't reinvent the genre in anyway, but everything it does works.
The humour works, the buddy movie side works (Seth Rogen & Jay CHou are very well cast in their respective roles) and the action certainly works.
It's all done in a tongue in cheek fashion that makes the whole thing light-hearted and yet with a few more gritty things to keep you on your toes.

So you could argue that some characters are very under-written, yet the movie is resolutely centered on its title duo, so I'd think it's a conscious choice.
You could argue that the story is unsurprising, yet it's well built and provides enough set pieces that feel right in their place.
But it's all done with a honesty that makes it all OK.
And there are a few shots (Kato vision, splitscreen tracking shots) that are truly great moments.

I would compare it to Ironman: sure, it's a product, but it's a good one. One that doesn't make you feel dirty enjoying it.
Although I will always wish to have seen Stephen Chow's version, Gondry's version is worth seing.

2010 movie round up...

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 22:58:00 +0000

Wow I did it again...
Losing the will to write lately.
Still, it's about remembering 2010 which was a particularly good one to spend in cinemas...
Just for Scott Pilgrim, it would have been worth it. But Inception? Toy Story 3? KICK-ASS?
It all makes Ironman 2, otherwise a perfectly good Hollywood product, quite pale in comparison.
If on top of that you add some catch up from 2009 (Hurt Locker, Un Prophete), there you get something very special. And one for everyone!

So here's the top 10:
01 - Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
02 - Inception
03 - Toy Story 3
04 - KICK-ASS
05 - The Hurt Locker
06 - Un prophète
07 - Shutter Island
08 - The Lovely Bones
09 - The Book of Eli
10 - Gainsbourg, Vie Heroique

Tron Legacy.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Tue, 11 Jan 2011 09:03:00 +0000

Oh woa...
I didn't realised I'd left this place for so long. How time flies when you're busy...
Incidentally, since I haven't been in the cinema over that period of time and cinema micro reviews is pretty much the only thing I keep myself doing, I guess it just figures.

Anyway, I brought 2010 to a close with Tron Legacy.
Now I love the original Tron to bits. Some people might think that it has aged, but I find the design, the concepts are still groundbreaking today.
I therefore didn't expect Legacy to top that. And it didn't.

The biggest flaw that holds the movie back is its script. I think they got the right elements there, I love the themes and the key elements (son chasing lost father kept prisoner) but it's all put together in a preditible manner that doesn't really make you sympathise with the characters.
Also, a lot of it seems forced in the way that "you can't have a Tron movie without ". So they did it. So if you know the original, you know what the main set pieces will be before going in (even if you don't know how they will unfold).
However, it's structured enough to make sense and it's brought to life by actors playing it straight and believing in it, so it's in no way a show stopper.

Also "how it unfolds" is an important point here. Because we're here for the show, right?
And on that field, boy doesn't the movie deliver. A real feast for the senses.
All art departments are converging and merging together to create a consistent world. Special mention to Daft Punk's music here that even incorporates sound effects!
Also, 3D has never been so relevant for this movie. And the use they make of it (real world in 2D, digital in 3D) is very clever.
The small flaw in that field is Jeff Bridge's young face: I think it's expressive enough, however it's really young Jeff Bridges and that bugged me slightly.

So all in all, a hell of a show that's definitely worth seeing in the cinema. It could have achieved its potential by trying to break the mould a bit more, but still it stays satisfying as it is...

Mass Effect

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Sat, 16 Oct 2010 08:23:00 +0000

I'm carrying on to clear my backlog of "games I should definitely play, years later".
The advantage is that I only get the cream...
Mass Effect definitely is part of it.

Funny how cinema tries (and fails) to make video games movies, yet Bioware are getting closer & closer to make a "movie video game". Sure, they're refining a formula that they've been working on for years, through Baldur's Gate, KOTOR et al. But here, to the "usual" (yet always outstanding) action and branching story paths, they added an impressive dose of style. Camera work is getting very close to the real thing, using handheld style in places and the direction reaches in the dialogs phases, making them a lot more dynamic than just shifting from 1 face to the other.
The story is, as always, very good, compelling with good characters.
I guess that if you compared it to movies however, it could still be considered "standard". But you can really feel that they're pushing the boundaries of the medium...

And then you get the universe, which is really a joy to explore. The design is brilliant and although it is based on familiar SciFi concepts, it feels fresh enough with a lot of background on the races you discover to keep everything interesting. It's quite a feat as in essence it's quite like Star Wars, but it just works without feeling like a rip off.

So definitely a must play, I'm looking forward to play the 2nd and the 3rd in a few years time... :)

Buried.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Fri, 01 Oct 2010 22:48:00 +0000

To hold a movie in just 1 place is a bold enough concept. Choosing a coffin as that place shows real spirit and it's quite amazing to see a movie that makes such a premise work that well.

Director Rodrigo Cortez even pulls the feat to shoot the box from so many angles that I could genuinely believe not 1 shot was used twice. It makes up for something that, just from a visual perspective, feels incredibly fresh.

The script, clever & tight, ramps up the pressure fast and keeps it high, pushing the audience towards the edge of their seat further and further...

Last but not least, it all wouldn't work if Ryan Reynolds wasn't up to the task and he definitely is... He conveys the character's arc completely convincingly throughout.

You'd have however to be able to stomach it, as I'd think it won't be anyone's taste.
But, if you're up to it, it's truly gripping stuff and as a cinematic experience, it feels quite flawless. It's one of those "small" movies you have to see in the cinema, as you really get this claustrophobic feel, with the darkness (it's only shot with "natural" light), the sounds...

Definitely convinced me never to try to get buried alive...

The Other Guys.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 12:07:00 +0000

I went to see this one on impulse. I usually stalk the movies I want to see for a long time, ensuring that I'm going to like them... For this one I just saw the trailer during the summer and thought it could be quite good. OK, I did check a few reviews first...

Another point was that I had never watched a Will Ferrel movie (only saw parts of Elf, which I found surprisingly entertaining, although not quite hilarious), so for my culture I just needed this. And I like Mark Walhberg. And Michael Keaton.

I had a slight worry coming in that I wouldn't be in on the jokes. There's nothing worse than going somewhere to laugh and ending up not laughing. In some occasions I do worry like that which is weird because I didn't worry for Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz or Scott Pilgrim (no idea why those titles popped into my head EDGAR I LOVE YOU (IN A SORT OF MANLY WAY)). But I guess they weren't really marketed (I hate that word but can't find another one) as "funny movies", just movies with a few laughs in it. Anyway.

Fortunately I did have a few frank and good laughs there.

The movie uses the reverse formula of the supercop-action-thriller (which would be the losercop-action-comedy). It's similar to KICK-ASS in the sense that KICK-ASS is a comic book movie that focuses on the "normal guy" instead of a super hero, here it's an action thriller that focuses on the normal cop instead of the super one.
And some very cool things come out of that, as well as a few totally hilarious moments (which come handy since that's what we were here for in the 1st place).

The one thing that I regreted was that with those few moments I laughed my face off, I wished the movie had been funnier overall. Not that the rest isn't funny, quite the opposite actually and if anything it's always satifying, but it's just that it's not AS funny.
Expectations are such a pain...

For the rest, I'd say it's all good, Will Ferrel seems to play mostly the same type of roles, but he does it brilliantly, Mark Wahlberg is excellent as the frustrated angry cop that wish he could shoot anything and I have to put a special mention to Michael Keaton (didn't know about TLC, but a brilliant idea).
There are even a few good action sequences thrown in the mix!

Oh yeah and the soundtrack is good (although I'm obviously biased towards anything that uses RATM or The White Stripes) and I enjoyed very much the educationnal ending credits, listing some of the most memorable financial scams in history...

So all in all, a good movie. Could have been better I guess, but it gets the sympathy vote with all those side great ideas...

Scott Pilgrim VS The World.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 11:58:00 +0000

I came out of Inception saying I couldn't possibly think how I could see something better this year.
Well I just did.

I did know that Scott Pilgrim was coming up and it had this label "movie made for me" slapped firmly on it. But although I expected it to be good I was far from expecting the kind of pure awesomeness it actually delivers.
To give an idea, I was already wanting to clap only a few minutes in.

It's a movie that succeeds on just every level. And it has many.
It is a (not dumb) teen comedy, an action movie, it is about music, video games and blends everything in a way that is unique and completely natural.
It's completely over the top of course, but it all makes sense.

I, of course, loved Spaced & Shaun Of The Dead & Hot Fuzz and Wright already showed through these that he's the ultimate geek, but here he also shows how much he's digested all his references and shows what he's capable of doing his own thing. As a matter of fact, Shaun & Fuzz were tributes to other movies and therefore the way they were shot in the same way of their models. Pilgrim shows Wright unleashed, proving the true virtuosity his capable of. I knew he was good, that he was THAT good.
The integration of the special effects, the way he films the fights and the rest, it's just incredible.

And that's just the surface.
Because the universe of the original comic is also quite excellent. I mention the comics here, because, not having read them, I don't know to who the credit should go.

The leads are likeable, but just, which only makes them more interesting.
And all the others manage also to be clearly fleshed out, even if there on screen only for a few minutes.
Kudos to the cast for this. You could single out Michael Cera, Mary-Elizabeth Winstead and Kieran Culkin, but all the others rock all the same.

And then there's the music.

It's one of those movies where you have 1 genius idea per shot.
It rocks. If not it's cool. If not it's funny (and weeeell funny).
Every moment is awesome. Every line is quotable.

And it's so radical, that there will ever be only one. That's also a deeply satisfying thing.
Instant cult classic doesn't even qualify here. Because this is an instant cult classic made for ME.

Funny how for Inception, I would just go and recommend it to anyone. Like "if you like cinema, you have to enjoy this".
For Pilgrim, this is a way more personnal thing. Because it is not for everyone. Some people won't get in all the references and in-jokes (I'm not saying I got them all here, as an example I noticed in the credits that I didn't recognised a Sonic & Knuckle track somewhere, I'm quite annoyed at that actually). Some people will bail over the visual overload. So I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. Just the handful few I know will enjoy it truly, as much as I did. I find this precious.

Edgar (and the team!), I love you man.

The Expendables

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 12:45:00 +0000

When you see the cast of a movie such as this, gathering the action heroes from the 80s, there are some standards you expect: a ludicrous story, ludicrous one-liners & a ludicrous amount of ludicrous violence.

It's completely fair to say that Stallone delivered on every count here.

It's a complete 80s throwback and I found it a huge amount of fun. And loved the fact that it's not a parody, but on the other hand you get a good few laughs that are with the movie. It doesn't fall in the category "so bad it's funny". It's tongue in cheek,
but still with a 1st degree approach.
There's no comment to make for the acting (although Rourke has a fine monologue) or the script, however none come in the way and the latter provides good set ups to put those action men up against each other.

And even if a good amount of cheese is there, there's nothing cheesy about the action, which just rocks: it's completely over the top in a good way (much better than The A-Team for example, as far as I'm concerned). It's filmed in a clear manner (ie it uses handheld camera, but not too much), you understand what's going on and although it makes no sense, it's still completely entertaining and believable in the context of the movie. And appropriately gruesome of course! :)

Some could regret that it isn't THE DEFINITIVE 80s MOVIE. Sure, it isn't, it's yet another one.
But a good one.

The boys are back in town!

Gainsbourg, Vie Heroique.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 12:33:00 +0000

It's great to see a biopic that strays off the usual path.

The association of Joann Sfar, reknown comic book author and Gainsbourg seemed a strange match to me at first (although I'm sure it's all down to a lack of knowledge on my part).
Seeing a comic book author come to making film is also unusual.

Yet after seeing this movie, it all makes sense and I have been much impressed by Sfar's work, as a 1st time director. He managed to infuse his movie with his sensibilities far beyond all the drawings you see on screen, as Gainsbourg paints, clearly bearing Sfar's mark.
There's genuine inventivity in his direction and although it IS a real movie (not a conceptual mess as other artists can tackle the medium) you can feel his comic book origins throughout.

It's movie that works more as an experience than a story, not because the story's poor (there's more than enough material in Gainsbourg's life), but because it's what Sfar wants.
And it's a stimulating one.

And it's very subtle with a lot of events (and famous songs) just referred to.
In a sense, it's what any biopic should do: not TELL you everything you should know about the subject, but inspire you to go and find out more about it.
And the movie does that beautifully by blurring lines between reality and dream.

It's suported by an outstanding cinematography (again, for a 1st timer, the effects are brilliant) and by an amazing cast.
They all managed for me to portray those icons I've seen "for real" as I indeed remembered them, from Gainsbourg to Birkin, to Bardot...

Gainsbourg himself, because of his "gueule" (as the movie states it) wasn't a specifically likeable character, yet he was a compelling one and the feeling is perfectly conveyed here.

I was disappointed to see that, at the end, Sfar had to show a message as a disclaimer to explain why he took this approach. As far as I'm concerned, the movie speaks for itself and I respect his choice even more so that I liked them.
But I guess the general public would need this, which makes me slightly sad.
But this has nothing to do with the movie anyway.

The A-Team.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 12:31:00 +0000

Well among the stupid remake / adaptations ideas, when announced, I thought the A-Team was right there with the likes of GI Joes. Then again, when handled properly, you can always get good stuff from trash.

And this adaptation comes as a good surprise. No greatness, but quite fun still.

On the down side, it slightly too over the top for its own good and the action is quite over edited.
But the film manages to saves itself with its characters, very well cast (all 4 main cahracters) and I thought very likeable. Whenever I was about to get fed up with a set piece that I was finding "too much", I got something (eg Murdoch asking the way to Berlin) that made me think "oh why not after all...".

So "just" a disposable blockbuster, nowhere near a Star Trek, missing the madness of a Transformers, but still way better than a Pirates Of The Carribeans in my book.
All in all, fun.

Predators

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 21:10:00 +0000

Disappointed...

I don't think I came in expecting "too much". The original Predator still casts its shadow on today's action movies, there was no point expecting something anywhere close.

All I wanted was some balls out action with macho commandos. And I got that. Along with some very nice ideas.
But things bothered me. I don't mind stereotypical in this context, but some characters just stuck out. I didn't feel they belonged there (as an example, no offence to Dany Trejo, who I'm looking forward to watching right in his place in Machete!).
And what also bugged me were all the references to the first Predator (from weapons to situations to music) and some obviously tongue in cheek moments. I would have thought that it would have worked so much better as a no-nonsense movie (which the 1st Predator was).

On the upside, Andrien Brody was quite credible as an action man and with Alice Braga had beleivable characters. The movie is also very competently shot and as I mentioned some good ideas come in the mix: the initial freefall, the revelation of whre the team is, the fights (although I didn't really buy the samurai... Then again Danny Glover killed one), the place to the inital Predator, the origin of Alice Braga's character.
One could argue that actually the movie delivers in the right moments...

But on the whole, even small annoyances tend to spoil the sauce...
So I can't help to feel that this is a missed opportunity...

Inception

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:36:00 +0000

I have no idea how he does it, but (almost) every Christopher Nolan has made have had the same effect on me, when the credits roll: a chill (of pleasure) down the spine, a huge smile on my face & my mind ebullient by the spectacle I was given to watch...

Inception is no exception.

It's one of those movies that I find myself embarrassed to talk about, because I can't help to have a sort of maniacal smile on my face, need to speak loud with big hand gestures, because I find it so good I can only be passionate about it.

What's also amazing about his films is that he hasn't yet repeated himself. There's something in common. An elegance in the direction, a definite love of mind games, some fairly twisted (yet likeable) characters, but it always takes place in a different context. A film noir, a super hero movie, a magic trick...
In this occasion it's a heist movie. Ocean's 11, only by Nolan.

It's less of a puzzle than, say, Memento, as you know pretty much from the beginning where you stand. No magic powder thrown in your eyes either.
But don't get me wrong, it's no less groundbreaking. It feels almost wrong to reduce this as an action movie, because it takes such a fresh and cerebral approach to it.

Visually, it's stunning with visions that are from dreams yet grounded in reality (I guess in the same way that the Batman movies were realistic in a way).
And this being an action movie, there are some crazy set pieces, that 1) made me wonder how they did that and 2) were simply mind blowing. In some aspects, it beats Matrix to its own game (although they actually don't really play in the same park).

DiCaprio yet again confirms what a fine actor he is, with a performance that just might be his most relaxed to date (in the films I've seen of him at least, to illustrate, he's got very intense performances in The Departed or Shutter Island). But the rest of the cast is also to credit. I know I always tend to say that but just have a look at the cast: Helen Page, Joseph Gordon-Lewitt (if you haven't seen Brick, go see it), Ken Watanabe, Cillian Murphy... So much talent in just a few names...

And as for the concepts developped, just don't get me started. Shall I say that, as usual, the film isn't really throwing a "message" at the audience, yet the ideas raise so many questions, just choose how metaphysical you want to get...

I can't think of any way I could see something better this year...
Strange how I remembered thinking that when walking out of The Dark Knight...

Update: after mulling over it during the night, it might be more of a puzzle than 1st thought... :)

Toy Story 3

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 20:27:00 +0000

The 1st 2 Toy Story were definitely a tough act to follow...
Then again, excellence is the least to expect from Pixar.
So it comes as no surprise that Toy Story 3 comes out as an incredible end to an incredible trilogy.

Strangely enough, the only drawback would be that the 1st 2 came 1st, therefore taking the surprise away. So there are expected moments that do happen and therefore could feel like "box ticking".
Yet the movie never repeat any of its predecessors and still applies the subtle mixture of comedy, action and more nostalgic moment, making it accessible to kids of course but equally enjoyable (possibly more emotionnal even) to any adult that once had favorite toys...

New characters are introduced and well developped (Ken, as the fashion-obsessed bad boy refusing to be a girl's toy is a stand out for me...), but never at the depends of the main characters, still strongly in focus. The script moves seamlessly from clever idea to clever idea, integrating all its references and tributes into the story.

From a technical point of view, it's full marks on all counts, an amazing achievement, especially considering the standard it had to sustain.
But this movie is also more than the sum of its parts, for everything the story of those toys tell about us, our inner child.

So it's yet again a big thank you to Pixar for delivering such a ride, yet a heartbreak to have to say bye to those characters... All in all, worth it!

A quote...

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 21:16:00 +0000

"The reason Memento worked for audiences is that it was a tremendously emotional film. Which had nothing to do with me. It was all Guy. This genius actor comes into my film-noir maze and is playing it for real. And in playing the truth of that, he opened it up for the audience. It never would have succeeded otherwise."

That's from (in case you didn't guess) Christopher Nolan and although I think he's also a genius in his own right, he's spot on there...

The Rage Factor.

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 11:45:00 +0000

I had the privilege to be at Finsbury Park yesterday, for celebrating Rage Against The Machine's victory at the UK Christmas chart last year.

Well I don't think anyone present will say they don't know how to throw a party...
Brilliant organisation (I've never been served that fast at any bar anywhere...), incredible set up (3 massive LCD screens, cameras everywhere so no one misses a thing) and great support bands (The Gallows, Roots Manuva & Gogol Bordello)...
The weather was on top of this generous, with only a small drizzle here and there. It wouldn't have changed the mood anyway.

It wouldn't have been much if the headliners hadn't been in good shape, which of course wasn't the case.
Of course, they came in only after being duly introduced by (a cartoon) Simon Cowell...
Although clearly (and understandably) in full crowd-pleasing mode, they threw their usual energy in the set. That included Testify, Bombtrack, Know Your Enemy, People Of The Sun, Bullet In The Head, Guerilla Radio, Township Rebellion, Freedom, Sleep Now In The Fire and also a cover of White Riot from the Clash. They could just throw anything at the crowd.
We also had the opportunity to applaude the people who set up the Facebook group that started it all.
And then, after even very cheekily featuring the song they won against, it was time to finally blow the place up with Killing In The Name.

And to think that I had given up to actually see them performing live...
There was nothing more that I could have wished for. Well actually yes, but there was nothing more I could REASONNABLY have wished for. I mean, they did all this FOR FREE!!!

Huge thanks to RATM & all involved for making this possible.
Brilliant.

I took a few crappy pictures:

From El JhOjo's junkyard

You had to be there...

Ironman 2

noreply@blogger.com (JhOjo) — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:21:00 +0000

I went to see this a few weeks ago but didn't take the time to talk about it here.
A shame really since cinema "reviews" (more like opinions) used to be pretty much the only thing I managed to keep doing... Anyway, better late than never.

I didn't expect anything from the 1st movie and came out begging for more. The downside is that I expected a lot from this sequel.
I'm happy to report that it didn't disappoint. In the "Hollywood blockbuster" genre, they still hold 1 of the best recipes currently in use.

In a clever twist, they manage to put Tony Stark in a similar position than the 1st movie: he starts as an obnoxious borderline-unlikable playboy (although Downey Jr. plays it perfectly and that the character has his own reasons for being that way) before redeeming himself to his friends and the audience. :)

This time round, he's also got a proper nemesis and Mickey Rourke proves (although unsurprisingly) a bad ass choice.
And I didn't even mention Black Widow... :)))))))))

It's also good to see that they didn't sacrifice character development for action. The drawback is that you end up wishing there was a bit more action, but that's also because the 3 set pieces here are really outstanding. Varied and just plain fun.

So again, this is not really art, but as Hollywood blockbusters go it's not dumbed down, it's spectacular, just dark enough yet fun enough...
A great movie therefore!