satin-48250 Reviews

Civil War (2024)

Realistic

[8/10 · 27 May 2024]

Ok we got it. Trump zealots don't like it. Because the movie does not take side and is not about any political message. January 6th freak show was an insurrection but still very very far from what would have followed, had they succeeded that day. This movie is realistic about those consequences.

The second subject is the coming of age of the newbie war photographer. The process of shedding emotions to stay focused on the mission. Those emotions and guilt come later. And are quickly buried. But still gnawing at you despite the impassible exterior.

This movie hits hard and does not go the Hollywood way. The ground battle scenes look real. Kirsten Dunst is excellent. The other actors are good. The extremely juvenile appearance of Cailee Sapeny is a bit unsettling and it makes the message a bit heavy handed.

Unfortunately, the movie won't change the political landscape and the fatal attraction of hate and violence that has been soaring for several years. Much more will be needed.

Despite that pessimistic outlook, it is completely worth watching.

Recommended.

Atlas (2024)

Cringeworthy with good CGI

[5/10 · 24 May 2024]

It's a miss. And Jennifer Lopez is not the main culprit.

The story is a bad toned-down rehash of Infinity war. Thanos was much more interesting there than that new Malthusian nemesis here. And the whole arc is boringly predictable.

The dialogues are often cheesy and almost always cringeworthy.

Jennifer Lopez has been better. She's trying to do her job professionally but her performance is soulless.

The CGI are good.

I haven't checked the budget but it's obviously way too much.

It's ok to watch on a rainy day.

As a side thought, Netflix looks really lost. They are wasting indecent amounts of money in mediocre movies and series and stop their more creative productions before their end. Headless chickens at the helm. That looks a lot like finance people have too much of a say. But I guess that won't change as long as their subscription tricks get them so much cash.

The Fall Guy (2024)

Fun

[7/10 · 24 May 2024]

This movie doesn't take itself seriously. So don't spend your watching time looking for plotholes. There are a few and it does not matter one bit.

There's plenty of action.

There's romance.

Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt are excellent.

This is fun to watch and thus hits its mark.

Recommended.

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Moneyball (2011)

Good

[7/10 · 20 May 2024]

Moneyball is a good movie. I have no interest in baseball and yet I watched it till the end and enjoyed it.

Brad Pitt is excellent as usual. I haven't seen a single movie where he is not. His great looks tend to overshadow that. Jonah Hill gives a great performance too.

The story is good and the end departs from the lazy Hollywood stories. Thankfully.

The only (unfair) reservation I have is that I'm thinking about what Clint Eastwood would have made of this with the same cast. And I'm convinced that it would have been yet on another level. Pointless, I know.

A good movie. Recommended.

Lorem ipsum.

Monsters of Man (2020)

Bad and not that bad. Impressive CGI

[5/10 · 14 May 2024]

The CGI for the robots is top notch. Really.

The story brings nothing new. Standard and lazy like in almost every action movie. The maverick robot is obviously a reference to Terminator.

Most of the cast is really bad. They're not helped by the cheesy dialog. The worst being the American doctors. Unbearably whiny. The Marine hero is pretty awful as well.

If you can speed up the movie or repeatedly press the 10 sec skip button on Netflix when the doctors are on screen, it is ok. Because of the robots.

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Ripley (2024)

Brilliant

[9/10 · 13 May 2024]

I was a bit doubtful before watching it. Two excellent movies, one with Delon and the other one with Damon, had already been done, based on the masterpiece by Patricia Highsmith.

At first I had mixed feelings. The cinematography is magnificent. A bit too artsy sometimes and it is distracting. But I guess I got used to it and was rapidly enjoying it. Black and white can be so beautiful and it is definitely superb here.

Andrew Scott shifting instantaneously from being awkward to charming to venomous. A craft that well mastered is a real treat. Maurizio Lombardi (Inspector Ravini) is the distinguished and (not so) cunning detective like you could find in the films noirs decades ago. The rest of the cast is also perfect.

And the story is great. Patricia Highsmith was a genius and this version does not disappoint.

This is really great entertainment. And it had been some time I hadn't seen anything that good on Netflix. Bravo!

Highly recommended.

Rebel Moon - Part Two: The Scargiver (2024)

Haters gonna hate, such is our world now, sadly

[7/10 · 29 April 2024]

May people find some satisfaction in hating with a passion. So many reviews here were obviously written in a state of rage that is completely outlandish. Too few people with an acute psychiatric disorder haven't seen a doctor and don't take the relevant medication. In the past, they were just shouting in their car or home or in a pub. Now it's getting "slightly" overwhelming.

Rebel moon part 2 is quite ok as an action movie. The CGI is excellent. The story is the umpteenth rehash of the Magnificent Seven. The characters are no more developed now than then.

It's not a masterpiece but it is entertaining.

The Gambler (III) (2014)

Pretty decent

[7/10 · 23 April 2024]

Mark Wahlberg is very good here. Much more interesting here than when he mostly flexes his muscles.

The supporting cast is very good too. Brie Larson can act when she's not making bad movies with Marvel Studios. Michael Williams delivers a good performance. And John Goodman is excellent as always.

The story is ok. The movie delves a bit too long into a self-destructive and unlikable Jim Bennett. To the point that I was close to losing complete interest but it swerved off just in time. And I found the ending to be good (and not confusing).

The Gambler is not a masterpiece but it's a movie I enjoyed watching.

The Intern (I) (2015)

Disappointing

[6/10 · 23 April 2024]

It's a kind of rom-com without the actual romance.

It will appeal to some older people because it gives value to age in a way that's rarely seen in movies. It avoids the grotesque and remains pretty decent.

Several points are disappointing : * Ann Hathaway's character is almost unbearable. And she's overplaying it in a very heavy way.

* The business advice given by De Niro's character that drives the final third of the movie, is bad because it does not take into account her horrible management and life. But no paradox would frighten a Hollywood writer.

* The actor playing her husband is bad here (the story didn't give him much to build upon, tbh).

* And the cheesy end is just that.

I had read good reviews several years ago and after watching it eventually, I find it disappointing.

It's ok on a rainy day but there are much better rom-coms around.

Land of Bad (2024)

Just ok

[5/10 · 20 March 2024]

That story has already been told so many times. The creativity level is zero. The execution is ok; explosions, guns, helos, drones and planes.

The actors do their job.

And then you remember Russell Crowe in Gladiator and you feel sad.

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The Beekeeper (2024)

Farcical

[5/10 · 12 February 2024]

Even for a Statham movie, this one goes way over the top.

The script is not trying, not even remotely.

Statham is his usual self. His body count here must be his record to date and he's not even sweating. Navy Seals and the kinds are just ragless puppets when facing him. He's reached the Marvel status here (and that is not a compliment).

As someone else already wrote, the dialogs are firmly on the cheesy side.

All in all, a brain-dead movie, so much so that it's getting boring and even slightly annoying.

5 is generous (it's really subpar) but the fight choreography is good (not that it's even remotely realistic, of course).

A lazy cheesy farce for a rainy day.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith (2024– )

Not really a remake. And it's good!

[8/10 · 7 February 2024]

It's not a remake of the movie and comparisons are pointless.

It's a nice mini series. It's funny, it doesn't take itself seriously, the action scenes are good and the characters are really endearing.

The actors are very good, especially Maya Erskine who shows a wide range here.

It might have been even better with a bit less of "too much" in the last episodes. But it's very good nonetheless.

Really enjoyable.

Recommended!

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The Marvels (2023)

It's not a movie, it's a check-list

[2/10 · 20 January 2024]

It has already been written over and over and yet... This movie is bad. Another unnecessary example of marketing gone awry. So many bad ideas...

No story. Cheesiness to an unbearable level. Awful taste by the ton.

Nothing we haven't seen before "thanks to" Marvel but on an another level.

And that introduction to a possible sequel had me shivering in horror. Please, do not make a sequel. Please Marvel, enjoy your money and do retire. Please Disney, enjoy the tax break from writing-off the insane money invested to buy Marvel Inc.

Let us close this sad chapter of the history of cinema.

Rest in peace and do not come back.

The Creator (2023)

It's good

[7/10 · 4 January 2024]

Yes, there are holes in the story.

But it's visually stunning, acting is good (JD Washington is actually very good). And the pace is finely balanced.

The person who found it emotionally vacant may be emotionally challenged. It will annoy Trumpists and other hard-right zealots although the political message is not overbearing. I guess that might be the explanation.

It's good entertainment. While not as good as Rogue One, it's better imo than the Star Wars movies and clearly better than Rebel Moon Part 1.

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Silent Night (2023)

Boring. No white doves

[3/10 · 3 January 2024]

Really boring. Had to fast forward so many times...

The main character is hollow despite a much too long introduction. He has no consideration for his wife and is a living cliché, so to speak.

It reminded me the Charles Bronson Death Wish movies. It's as bad, just visually better.

John Woo needed money but wasn't interested, obviously.

Joel Kinnaman has been better.

And the story requires more than a suspension of belief. Steven Seagal movies could feel realistic compared to this one.

It's a mockery of an action movie, without any humor or irony. Just very bad.

Such a disappointment...

Not recommended.

Mission: Impossible - Dead Reckoning Part One (2023)

Gorgeous action movie

[8/10 · 2 December 2023]

Tome Cruise might be weird and a cult follower but he does know what an action movie is.

The stunts are amazing, the pace very good. It's even slightly goofy like the old James Bond movies (just less so and that's a wise choice).

Tom Cruise face does look weird and it can be unsettling in some scenes. Too many hyaluronic acid injections...

Sure the character development is minimal but that's a minor flaw. Now that the James Bond franchise is between two eras, MI is the best running franchise today and this movie one of its best installments.

Recommended.

(Just a filler to reach those 600 characters...)

Wingwomen (2023)

Much below what it aims to be

[4/10 · 10 November 2023]

As written in another comment, Netflix has a bad influence on Mélanie Laurent who can do much better.

This plain vanilla action movie has a few good scenes (and also some cringeworthy ones).

The two main actresses have a good chemistry but their acting is soulless and subpar. Manon Bresch and Félix Moati are better than them here imo.

The scenery is often breathtaking.

And that's about it.

The rhythm is bad, there's no tension, the plot and its twists have been seen hundreds of times. It's even boring at times.

A mediocre film, not completely bad and made only to bring food on the table. Disappointing.

Unlocked (I) (2017)

Very good

[8/10 · 5 September 2023]

What a good surprise! I had some middle of the road expectations but it happened to be much better than that.

Classical construction and there's no real surprise in the script. But it's done with professionalism.

The pace is fast but not over the top. The same goes for the action scenes.

The actors are excellent.

Very good entertainment.

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Blah blah. Why does imdb require 600 chars, smh...

Bodyguard (2018)

Really very good

[8/10 · 24 July 2023]

Truly a very good series.

Richard Madden is excellent and so is. Sophie Rundle.

The story is clever and very well crafted.

The cinematography is very good and the pace is riveting.

A solid 8-8.5. Recommended.

And now the filler because of that silly obligation to write verbose comments... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed non risus. Suspendisse lectus tortor, dignissim sit amet, adipiscing nec, ultricies sed, dolor. Cras elementum ultrices diam. Maecenas ligula massa, varius a, semper congue, euismod non, mi. Proin porttitor, orci nec nonummy molestie, enim est eleifend mi, non fermentum diam nisl sit amet erat.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023)

A nice farewell

[8/10 · 9 July 2023]

Not the best Guardian but still good enough.

The music is top notch as usual.

Rocket really shines here and the rest of the cast is quite good.

I liked that team of freaks. And despite the all too american final battle, the very end is surprisingly mature.

Hats off to James Gunn for this trilogy.

The rest is just to reach the silly requirements set by Imdb.

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Hypnotic (2023)

Netfix haters are getting outrageously wild

[7/10 · 27 June 2023]

Fun to see the Netflix haters on a rampage. One does even write "worst than the worst B film" he's ever seen. No less haha.

Such comments are so outrageous that they're acting as an advertisement.

Sure, there are a few holes in the details. And it's no Inception. And not quite as good as Gone Girl. But it's (good) entertainment, not a treaty on quantum mechanics.

So breathe, accept to suspend belief (plot twist: it is not a documentary), and enjoy the ride.

Netflix productions have been quite mediocre, to say the least, for some time. The days of Sense8 and The OA are gone and it's a shame. But, once in a long while, the do churn out some decent entertainment.

On a minor side, glad to see that Affleck lost that extra weight that made him so embarrassing as the Batman in the DCEU.

John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)

Ok but not as good

[6/10 · 6 June 2023]

There are some good scenes. Especially the battle filmed from above. Very smooth camera work.

Shamier Anderson is quite good. I hope to see him again soon.

Skarsgard is fine as the proverbial French arrogant p..k to which he adds a nice oily venomous touch. Slightly disturbing is his completely failed French accent which sounds much more Germanic.

But Skarsgard is no Nyqvist. He lacks depth. That's not fatal for a John Wick movie but imo the first installment was the best for its intensity and the charisma of the senior foe.

More troublesome, the fights in the first half of the movie aren't good. The opponents wait patiently to be shot and Reeves is much slower and less dynamic than in the previous movies. The camera manages much better to hide that for the fights in the second half though. Some battle scenes are too long.

Lance Riddick is sorely missed. RIP. He was such a fine actor and a perfect fit for his role in this franchise.

"Our business here now is concluded". That is a wise choice indeed.

The Menu (2022)

Intriguing but ultimately disappointing

[6/10 · 13 May 2023]

I enjoyed the first third then it unraveled at an increasing speed.

The menace turns to a farce that ends up being grotesque.

And the "political" message conveyed by the cheeseburger was beyond heavy handed.

Most actors are good.

The music is coherent with the movie; not subtle.

Disappointing yet not actually bad.

*** that pesky 600 character requirement is annoying... Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Sed non risus. Suspendisse lectus tortor, dignissim sit amet, adipiscing nec, ultricies sed, dolor. Cras elementum ultrices diam. Maecenas ligula massa, varius a, semper congue, euismod non, mi.

Ghosted (I) (2023)

Being a parody is no excuse for being bad

[3/10 · 8 May 2023]

This is a bad movie. And being a parody is no excuse for that. The action arc is goofy but that's not the problem. The romance is super cringe-worthy.

The (over)acting is not funny, just embarrassing. Anyway, Chris Evans is a bad actor. But Ana de Armas can do better (cf. James Bond).

Most action scenes are not entertaining but a couple are, hence the 3 stars.

***why does imdb require 600 characters? The more, the merrier? Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.

Léon: The Professional (1994)

Unforgettable

[10/10 · 13 January 2023]

Almost 30 years later, this film is just as good as it was then. And it's still as good after 5 showings than it was at the first. Not many movies can do that.

Natalie Portman is extraordinary here. One of the very best child acting ever seen.

Gary Oldman gets his best role here imo. Over the top but that's what the character required. And he takes so much fun playing that role. He really steals the scenes he's in. Brilliant.

Together with The big blue (Le Grand Bleu), Leon provides Jean Reno with his best role. Reno is not a great actor but he gives his best here and is perfect for the role. He succeeds in making Leon human and touching. And such a great chemistry with Portman!

Somes scenes are very emotional, heartbreaking even, others are extremely violent. It's fast paced. The music is excellent.

Hugely enjoyable, one of the best movies ever. It's much more than a mere action movie.