n-m-bertin Reviews

Devotion (II) (2022)

Riddled with issues

[5/10 · 2 November 2023]

This movie is a little weird. I enjoyed the watch, but it's not a very balanced movie. On the one hand, it's very gooey, very melodramatic, with the music, the wife back home, the crying... On the other hand it's intense, with John Major going a bit overboard with the mirror scene, especially compared to the other actors and the gooeyness of it all. So when you have John Major being super intense, developped well as a character, against Glen Powell who's a lot more one dimensional, with 0 background story, it doesn't work as well as you'd hoped.

Another big issue in my opinion is how war is shown. There is very little explanation as to what's going on with the Korean war, the time jumps are a bit much, and the two actual scenes involving planes in battles are very short. So in the end you're like "wait, that's all they did ?". His biography shows that he has 20 combat missions. The movie makes you believe he only did 2, that's just not right. It also makes you believe he was there only a week. He was there for 2 months. That's where the movie fails the most. It's a shame, coz it's rare to see a movie showing pilots supporting troops and destroying lines of communication. It's usually all about dog fights, and luckily there's only one in the movie. I also wished they explained why in the movie the Russians and Koreans had migs (jet fighters) while the americans still used propellers...It is well known that Americans used F86 Sabrejets (jet fighters as well). Maybe they didn't have them in that company, but a little explanation would have been nice...

What saves the movie is how well it's shot, despite how irrealistic it is. The amount of flak and machine gun fire these plane go through without taking a hit is ridiculous, as well as the unlimited amount of ammo the Mig showed in the movie seemed to have... The casting is nice, Thomas Sadoski is always an amazing addition to any movie.

Guy Ritchie's the Covenant (I) (2023)

A good movie with a poor shooting location

[7/10 · 1 November 2023]

People in Hollywood don't seem to agree on which country represents Afghanistan the best in terms of landscape, flora... Lone Survivor was a great movie, but you could tell it was shot in New Mexico. Afghanistan is much drier. Same thing here, they shot this in Spain, and the roads are way too well maintained for Afghanistan, the vegetation doesn't fit. And worst of all, they shot the WHOLE movie there including the scenes that are supposed to happen in California... Meaning that they were like "yeah that'll do, the audience won't notice". It's the type of laziness I hate in a movie.

But the story is good, the 2 main actors are just amazing, especially. Dar Salim, whom I hope we're gonna see a lot more. The editing is sometimes quite bold, it's still a Guy Ritchie movie. There is almost 0 humor though, it's not that kind of Guy Ritchie movie. You also wonder why they show you all the squad names at the beginning, since they almost won't be used later in the film, it's all about those 2. Maybe it's a smoke screen, but that's strange. Overall a good watch, not as poignant as Lone Survivor though, but the subject matter is better.

My Dream Derelict Home in the Sun (2022– )

Almost all the houses are unfinished...

[6/10 · 29 January 2023]

This is a nice show, the format is similar to Grand Designs, except they're historic homes in Spain and France being restored by Brits. The main issue is that apart from the house in the pilot (which is why they chose it for the pilot I'm sure), all the other projects are far from finished... Some of them are barely half way there, and the one in the Dordogne had 0 finished room. Of course it's understandable due to covid delaying building, and the show producers probably couldn't wait another year before releasing the episodes due to budget, but for the viewer it is incredibly frustrating. I hope they do a season 2 with FINISHED projects.

Another issue in my opinion, is that the B roll they use to show Spain and France doesn't match the location of the homes... In Aveyron for example, it's supposed to take place in Vailhourles, but because nearby Najac looks better with its castle, they're showing footage of Najac... With the Normandy episode, all of a sudden they're showing areal footage of Collonges-La-Rouge a famous village with red brick houses which is in Corrèze, a whopping 600 km away... So yeah a bit of "creative liberty" as we say...

It's such as shame coz I love shows like these, but it's very difficult seeing unfinished projects.

Barry (2018–2023)

Insanely hilarious...

[9/10 · 6 November 2019]

Think Dexter or Breaking Bad for the grittiness and the spells of suddence violence, yet with a lot more humor, as well crafted as masterpieces of comedy such as Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm... Barry doesn't disappoint. At every turn you're surprised by the cleverness of the writers, how they keep Barry out of trouble yet continue to dig deep in this character, both with humanity and laughs. When you think about it, the tone is sometimes quite similar to Killing Eve. Except that Killing Eve leans on the dark side, with spy stuff and serial killers, while Barry always keeps comedy as its main goal. Of course the lead actor is just amazing and I can't believe Bill Hader also co creates the show... Special mention too to Henry Winkler and Anthony Carrigan, I can't get enough of them. I haven't laughed this hard since Seinfeld...

The Boys (2019– )

More like season 0.5

[7/10 · 31 July 2019]

It's a great series, for 50% of a season... I hate when creators assume there's gonna be a season 2, and give us something half assed. I think they knew the actors are great and the material is great as well. But they kinda watered it down from the comics. It's not as raw and insane, especially the sexual assault part. In the comics, all of them take part in it, here it's just Deep. They remove the stuff to make room for character development. A huge difference with the source material, is that The Boys don't know each other here, while the team is already formed in the comics, minus Hughie. So it takes a lot longer to get where it is going. Some scene are just hilarious, like the baby scene in the basement, and Homelander is a great crazy complex villain. You get the vibe of all those UK writers like Warren Ellis and Alan Moore, and their satiric views on American capitalism and social media. But by the 8th episode you think "oh they're not gonna wrap this up it's gonna be a major cilffhanger" and it is... Nothing is solved, everything is left hanging. A very bad choice by the showrunner. My conclusion is that it's a great show, but you should wait for season 2 to watch it, because it's only gonna leave you frustrated.

Chernobyl (2019)

A masterpiece

[9/10 · 24 June 2019]

I'm a physicist. Not nuclear, but we had a nuclear physics formation in my masters. I've worked with nuclear sources, measured radiation. Even without a nuclear source, you can see cosmic radiation hitting the sensor. So I think for physicists this series is even more impactful. Because every time you see those guys approaching graphite, or staying outside in a shower of radioactive ashes, you know they're pretty much dead, you understand the power of this invisible thing. You know that as soon as that pregnant woman approaches so many dangerous areas, and people, that her child is dead. Despite the choice of keeping British actors and their British accent, everything feels genuine. The bullying in the Soviet workplace is well know. I've worked with Russian scientists. They're not diplomatic by any means, it's about who can shout the loudest. It's about dominating the opponent that disagrees with you. Thankfully, not all of them are like that, and Valeri Legassov is just fascinating in that regard. The story of the USSR is the story of great people acting despite a ridiculous system of secrets, intimidation and honor at all costs. It's all about honor, keeping appearances right against Europe and the US. In the case of Chernobyl, it was about refusing to see the faults in Soviet reactors, even when it blew up.

It is a difficult watch, especially the radiation poisoning. But every aspect of this story is fascinating. The lies, the engineers, the politics, and the weird things in the aftermath. Having to cut down trees, kill all pets and game, concrete burials, etc... The tension is immense, and the music is just mesmerizing, Hildur Guðnadóttir did an amazing job. Recording actual sounds in a nuclear plant and transforming them for the music was just brilliant.

I can't think of any fault in the series. Of course, I would have prefered to see it done with Eastern European and Russian actors, and I would have prefered everything to be accurate, so that we wouldn't have needed Ulana Khomyuk as a composite character, but it probably would have made the show less interesting and too complex. It's already amazing that everything feels so 80s, by filming a nuclear plant so similar to Chernobyl, or filming in apartment blocks so similar to the ones in Prypiat. It's a must watch, HBO's done it again...

Warrior (2019–2023)

Very solid show, didn't expect it to be so complete

[9/10 · 11 June 2019]

I honestly expected a show mostly centred on Chinatown and nothing else. In fact, I'd say Chinatown is only about half of the story. It is very well done and you understand all sides : the poor Irish workers, the coolies, the tongs, the politics, the rich, the cops etc... There are a lot of interesting characters, and unlike in a lot of shows I don't think there is one that I can't stand.

It's really well written, with a funny "Western" episode in the middle of it all. The fights are all quite nice, although I would have prefered less artificial speed in the fights themselves, and more emphasis on the martial arts. The emphasis is more on the story of Chinese immigration, and the survival of all people in San Francisco at that period of time. So kung fu fans be warned. There are a lot of great fights, but not in every episode. It is also surprisingly gore and sexual, didn't expect this for a Bruce Lee pitch. I think it could gain from less nudity actually. But overall I really enjoyed this show, the balance they found is quite rare, and it touches on a lot of interesting debates on race, gender and social status. The language is also interesting, the way the tong speak (onion, duck etc...).

I think the only thing is that I wished it looked a bit more authentic. You can tell they're using the same mountains for the Western episode and the China flashback episode. They shot everything in South Africa, so it looks... African. I also wished the main actor were Chinese-American, while he is British-Japanese. Another caveat : they use a "trick" so that when the actors speak Cantonese, they switch to English. Coz you can tell a lot of actors can't speak Cantonese at all, especially Andrew Koji. Cantonese has a certain tone, you can hear it well in the Ip Man movies. Also, why would all tongs speak Cantonese ? A lot of them would speak Mandarin, and there's even a Mongolian one. But those are minor things, this is a must watch show.

Yellowstone (2018– )

Why so serious...

[5/10 · 31 May 2019]

I watched this because of Taylor Sheridan. But his stuff is a bit hit and miss for me. Loved Sicario and Wind River, didn't like Hell or High Water and... Yellowstone. That show is insane. He takes elements from Wind River, especially regarding native Americans, but goes way too far with the "cowboy mafia"... They "brand" each other, they kill anybody they want,the Dutton sons and daughter are all crazy in their own way, it's just too much. It's way too unrealistic. I've been to this part of the world, it's not like that at all... Sure there's some money being tossed around, but not that much... Here they make it like it's the new Wall Street... If you wanna talk money, Colorado, Utah and Alaska all are richer than Wyoming. And Wyoming is one of the safest states in the country, there's like 15 murders a year over there, which is less than the number of murders we see in 10 episodes of Yellowstone, so come on... It's also very frustrating to see that almost everyone is corrupt, or corruptible, that you can blow up a mountain like that, or botch a criminal investigation just by asking a priest to influence someone during a sermon... It's just not believable.

There's also a lot a gratuitous violence and nudity, really not needed at all, and a severe lack of plot. You can watch this thing on fast forward, you wouldn't be lost. It's just a lot of yelling, a lot of quiet threats, and maybe here and there an ok side plot... I kept watching it for Kayce, Rainwater and Jimmy, but all the main characters are annoying. I don't like Costner's character. He's evil for no good reason. At no point his crusade is justified in my eyes. And all his children are just ridiculous, especially Beth, she is just irritating. So save yourselves the trouble. If you need something dark and violent, you might as well watch Chernobyl...

Cobra Kai (2018–2025)

It shouldn't work... but it does

[7/10 · 28 May 2019]

I'm stealing the quote from one of the hosts of Screen Junkies here, but he's right. It's a "30 years" later revival of Karate Kid... It shouldn't work at all. You have the same actors, some of the same plots and subplots, but it's all flipped around. You really understand the history of the character, Johnny Lawrence in particular, played by a great William Zabka. Often Daniel LaRusso appears as the bad guy, and the reason I put 7 instead of 8 or 9 is because of him. He's not played by the greatest actor in the world, let's be honest, and a LOT of stuff could be resolved if Daniel and Johnny simply sit down for a minute and talked to each other. All the time you root for Johnny and never for Daniel. It's the same feeling you get from Batman VS Superman : why can't they simply talk it out ? So it is a lot more dramatic than you expect, even though the show is also quite funny. It feels like 80's/90's movie humor, they make those kids do stuff that's nowadays child abuse, but you forgive them. I hope they will stop at season 3 though, coz they can't milk this for very long. It's not like the Karate Kid universe is very rich, you've pretty much seen everybody from the 2 movies at this point except the ones who died. So it is an enjoyable watch and a great surprise, but quite overrated on IMDB.

Killing Eve (2018–2022)

Not the masterpiece everyone raves about

[5/10 · 7 January 2019]

Unfortunately the show is another case of "how dumb can the people who are investigating be". Both main protagonists are good actors, but the show is riddled with mistakes. First it goes too fast, you don't know if it's a comedy, a drama, everyone jokes about death, comes out of the closet in an instant, people die like it's nothing, without drama, and for others we're supposed to feel something ? Doesn't work. The language thing is also a big issue. In Paris, none of the actors speak proper French. They're not French actors, and all speak with a terrible accent... How hard can it be to hire French people ? And although Jodie Comer must have taken a lot of lessons to speak so many languages, she's convincing in none. At the beginning when she's supposed to have a foreign accent, her British background clearly comes out in places, it threw me off the character... It's a series I badly wanted to like, but it's so clunky... And the massive conspiracy thing was unnecessary... This whole secret organisation trying to bring chaos when they want ? Ew... She would have been much more interesting as a solo killer. Instead we get stupid spy moles... We already got Spooks, one of the best shows out there, no need for a poor copy. The finale is also stupid. We've seen such ending episodes so many times... Ooh I stabbed/shot/pushed you and you're hurt, but clearly you'll come back for season 2 right ? Come on... It's not often we get interesting female killers but this one is a fail for me.

Going Places with Ernie Dingo (2016–2023)

Amazing series focused on conservation and tradition

[9/10 · 28 October 2018]

Don't let the title fool you. Although it sounds like a basic travel show, it's a lot more than that. Ernie is a native Australian, and is really attached to his country. He meets people who share his passion with the land, the show is mostly about natural treasures, conservation, and the tradition of aboriginal people. It is very well done, never over the top, informative and beautiful. Ernie knows a lot of stuff, especially about wildlife, history and plants, so he's not your usual clueless showhost who's bewildered by everything, he actually connects with people. Let's hope there's more seasons to come.

Finding Vivian Maier (2013)

Amazing story

[8/10 · 3 September 2018]

If I had to rate Vivian's photography, I'd give it a 10 no problem. But I'm rating the documentary here. Her story is fascinating, and nicely told. It is a complete story, from the discovery of the documents as told by John Maloof, to the very emotional exposition in the village where she partially grew up in the French Alps. It is dual story : the story of her life, and the story of her photography. They're disconnected, as her photography was only discovered after her death. You get great interviews from photographers, as well as from children she took care of. It is both a fascinating and sad story, of an artist who was probably damaged during her youth and evolved to be this lonely yet touching human being. But it's also the story of John Maloof, who didn't let go and really went above and beyond to tell her story to the world. It's not a professional documentary by any means, it has a "TV like" quality and could have been done slightly better. For example the guy who says she has a fake French accent and claims he's an expert but won't show us his thesis is weird... It should have been cut off. I'm French, lived in Australia for years, and can tell a French accent. Hers was genuine, although clearly exagerated. It wasn't fake though, maybe she had a bit of German in there from her Austrian father. If you don't know Vivian Maier, it's a must watch, whether you're interested in photography or not.

Mission: Impossible - Fallout (2018)

Doesn't deserve all the hype

[5/10 · 17 August 2018]

I still don't understand the hype around this movie. I liked both previous MI, would have rated them around 7. But this one doesn't hold up. First of all, the villain is awful. Or both villains should I say. You don't really understand their motives. You also realise that they tried really hard to show terrorists that are all white for once. But you guess who the villain is pretty quickly there's no misdirection, no real elegance in the writing process.

It's just stunt after stunt, with some bad "emotional" moments that don't really work. I didn't for Ethan, nor his wife.They also failed on the humor part. The only time the audience laughed was when he spoke French, because his French was horrible (at a supposedly dramatic moment).

They also exploit every cliché possible in the action movie book. The last moment save, the crucial object falling near the cliff etc... It's very predictable, and very annoying. Henry Cavill plays a totally (spoilers) brainless villain. All muscles and no brains. And nuclear weapons ? Smallpox ? Come on... And you couldn't even get the Indian landscape right. You shot this in New Zealand and in the most famous cliff in the world, in Norway... You think we can't tell ? With not one Indian or Pakistani on screen ? Oh and Alec Baldwin's character dies... for no reason. And they just leave him there. Let's not even mention the CIA's director... Anyway, I don't understand why people liked it so much ? Were they bored of all these The Rock and Superhero movies ? Did they need an old school action movie again ? It seems like the same Baby Driver hype, which gave the audience a Tarantino clone a decade after people stopped making them.

Black Panther (2018)

I didn't care for the characters.

[5/10 · 4 May 2018]

Black Panther is a beautiful movie, but I was never IN it. I never felt like Wakanda was real. Who believes such an advanced nation would still not be a democracy ? Or that it was never discovered (even before they had the cloaking technology) ? I think my main concern though is T'Challa. I don't understand him, he's never developed enough. They think his introduction in Civil War is enough... And people seem to praise the villain. Well he has some legitimous concerns for sure, he's basically the audience asking itself "if Wakanda is so advanced why is it not helping other black people around the world ?". But he's too much of a show-off with his big muscles and everything. The character of Ross is also very poor. 0 development, he's weak, at no point his position in the CIA is actually earned.

As a movie I understand that it's a milestone for some, just like Luke Cage was. But it is not a reason to overlook the issues plaguing this film. I think it would have been a much better movie if Black Panther was a scientific genius like in the comic, he even evented a science, "shadow physics". Here, they split his personality : the genius isn't him, it's his sister. If he were the scientific genius, his place on the Wakanda throne would be much more justified. As is, he's there just because he's the prince. There is a lot of unjustified stuff in the movie. Why is W'Kabi betraying T'Challa ? Why does M'Baku suddenly help ?

Anyway, it was quite boring (because it's long as well) and Wakanda is beautiful but not that impressive, we just see one city. And I'm annoyed that Marvel movies always take place over the course of a couple of days. There's never any room for training, improvement, it's just action/reaction...

Annihilation (I) (2018)

Nice little Sci Fi movie

[7/10 · 23 April 2018]

I was pleasantly surprised with Annihilation. It has some very good ideas, although scientifically quite impossible. It is its own little world, with great characters. It always feels tense, desperate and sad, with a touch of poetry. It is derivative, it takes from Alien, from Jurassic Park, and especially from Arrival. Portman's character is quite close from Amy Adams' character in Arrival. A lonely woman, driven by her work, looking for redemption. I didn't mind the ending, I think it added to the originality of the movie. The special effects of the doubles were not very good though, but the crystal towers and the animals were very well done. I really prefered it to Ex Machina which premise was bad : no one can believe a single scientist can create the perfect android with the perfect AI. No one has all these skills. But here there aren't really any plotholes. Like Blade Runner 2049, some stuff is open to interpretation, which is fine. The director/writer however adapted the book without knowing it was gonna be a trilogy. So he had to guess what the author had in mind, and make up the rest so he had a complete movie. That's why it doesn't feel that coherent all the time, like the intentions of the meteorite for example, or the scientific nature of the shimmer (DNA prism ?) and why I only give it a 7.

Shifting Gears with Aaron Kaufman (2018)

What's the point of all this ?

[4/10 · 23 April 2018]

Nothing really happens in this show. They take 3 to 4 episodes for just ONE project. And the projects aren't really interesting. A show is like a joke : if you don't understand the premise, you don't care and the result isn't fun. Here apparently Aaron is building immensely expensive cars and trucks, only to use them for sports, recruited some talented mechanics, and doesn't even sell the cars. Where does the money come from ? How can this be a profitable business ? The shop he has is bigger and with more tools than the one at Gas Monkey ! How is it possible ? I understand the fact that Aaron wants to build cars for himself after building them relentlessly for Richard Rawlings for so long, but how is this a show ? This should never have been a spin-off in the first place. Aaron isn't as fun or funny as Richard, and the cars he makes are just one off toys, nothing like his Ford Falcon he raced to Pike's Peak for example. So don't bother watching it.

The Punisher (2017–2019)

A memorable show

[9/10 · 12 March 2018]

Everyone was waiting for The Punisher after his amazing reboot in Daredevil. Some people were afraid of seeing too many rampage scenes, too much blood, others were afraid it wouldn't get the veterans right. For both of those it proved to be right on point. To me they have found a very nice balance between all the characters. Bernthal as the Punisher is amazing, we already knew that. But they've added a couple of great characters : Micro, Curtis and Lewis. I didn't care much for Dinah and the Homeland arc in general, they always seemed two steps behind, too stupid for their own good. But Micro was over everyone's expectation. His story had depth, and you didn't expect such a well written friendship with Frank. It's mainly thanks to him that they were able to pull off 13 episodes. Dinah and Homeland felt like filling up, but Micro is essential to the story. And so are Curtis and Lewis, two opposite sides of the typical veteran returning from war.

As far as the villains are concerned, I'm split. I think it could have been done better, Ben Barnes looks too perfect for the part, he doesn't look like a veteran, all cleaned up, playboy and everything. He was still interesting, especially his past, but still. And Rawlins is just a monster, with no clear motivation but power. I needed more from him. Nevertheless I rate this show 9, because for all the things it got wrong, it got so many right. Despite the presence of Karen Page, The Punisher was its own little universe, it was well written, and well directed as well : the forest scene with the drones was amazing, the couple of rampage scenes with the Punisher are also great, and that Tom Waits' "Hell Broke Luce" song that came right on time was just a "oh yeah" moment... I rate it higher than Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, or Daredevil Season 2. However, like all of those, I think it could (and should) have been done in 8 episodes rather than 13. You could have removed the Homeland story, I don't understand Netflix and the whole 13 episodes thing. You could have the same budget, but less streaming needed, it's not like Netflix relies on advertising and air time...

Tamborine (2018 TV Special)

Quite bad for Chris Rock

[4/10 · 12 March 2018]

I really like all the previous specials Chris has done, and as an everyday man, he's one of the funniest around. But in this special I don't know where his inspiration has gone. He obviously when through a transition phase with the divorce and everything, and maybe the Louis CK thing affected him in some way I don't know. But in any case, this is not a funny show. Most of the good jokes are in the second half, but the rest of the time it is quite predictable, with Chris laughing at his own jokes.

A comedian laughing at his own material is always a bad sign, this is the sign of decline. They said it in "Talkingfunny", the HBO special with Ricky Gervais, Jerry Seinfeld, Louis CK and himself though: "you stay in the bit". You never go outside the bit, you don't laugh at your stuff. Chris also doesn't look good. He looks skinny, tired. And during the first half, it's more an autobiography than a comedy special. He's divorced, he fought for his kids, he's a porn addict, he cheated. OK fine, but where's the joke ? I'm here to laugh, not pity you or hate you.

I can't remember if it's In Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee or Talking Funny, but Chris Rock said "if you're not funny, the public will turn on you" and Jerry Seinfeld answered, quite vigorously "they SHOULD turn on you". Well, this is it. I sincerely hope he can turn it around. Go back to the notebook, craft your jokes, practice them. But "Tamborine" feels like work for him, not fun. If you don't enjoy yourself, how are we supposed to ?

Gad Elmaleh: Part En Live (2017 TV Special)

Good first special in English for Gad

[7/10 · 12 March 2018]

I'm French and like his spectacles quite a lot, they're very well crafted, in a country where it is a bit of a desert right now for comedians... France has produced some legendary comedians like Coluche, Pierre Desproges or Les Inconnus, but since 2000 it's been really poor.

I first saw Gad doing bits in English in Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with his friend Jerry Seinfeld. You could tell he was trying jokes, and that some hit and some didn't. Jerry became his mentor, afterall he was already his role model. I was afraid of Gad being a poor Seinfeld clone. Luckily in this special he showed that he kept his great physical comedy, which makes him stand out from the other comedians. He has great flexibility and gesture, obviously inspired by the great like Chaplin.

His spectacle is mainly about his views on America. Some are fresh, and nicely crafted, like the emphasis on words, the outgoing nature of Americans. Some jokes still feel not quite polished enough, like the one where he bought a gun and got the apartment. Didn't feel right. His accent is also closer to a British than an American accent, except for the "T"s, because it's easier for a French speaker to speak like that. But I admit I was impressed with his American impressions, as well as when he does the over the top French accent to represent posh or left field Frenchmen. The crowd responded well, and overall I find this special way funnier than the new Chris Rock, which was really disappointing. I wish good luck to Gad, I think if he does a second American special, this will be the one he can be truly proud of. Once he fully understand American culture, politics, and economics, and once his English is completely fluent, it will be a memorable show for Americans.

Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri (2017)

A bit watered down and predictable

[7/10 · 23 January 2018]

I love McDonagh movies. They're fresh, funny, sad and touching, and you can never predict what's gonna happen next. In Bruges is a real masterpiece. Here I was expecting the same given the amazing reviews. Unfortunately, it is a bit watered down. The jokes didn't really hit home for me. Many of them are racial jokes aimed at making the audience uncomfortable, like in Get Out, but still... And during the whole movie I felt like it was held back. Acts don't have consequences, no one dies that shouldn't die. And my initial prediction of the movies proved correct : they never catch the murderer, and once you hear about Idaho and their plan to go there, you know the movie will end right here, that there won't be a last act outside Ebbing. The performances of the actors save the movie, and a few scenes are funny. But some characters don't hit home : the son, the 19 year old bimbo, or the replacement police chief. I didn't connect with them, and I didn't have as much empathy for the mother as I had for characters in In Bruges (all of them).

The Revenant (I) (2015)

Visually amazing but more of a horror film than a historical depiction

[7/10 · 7 November 2017]

The movie is stunning there's no denying that. All this shooting directly in the wild paid off, it was worth the effort. Also, there are a couple of memorable scenes, like the bear attack, sleeping inside a horse's carcass... DiCaprio and Hardy are great actors, Hardy is like a chameleon... But he needs to stop with the weird accents, it goes too far.

What I didn't like about the movie is how bleak it is. You're made to believe at first that it's a period movie, historically accurate. And I know some people will still believe it going out from this... But it's wildly fictional. First, Indian attacks wouldn't decimate a well armed expedition like this. We're made to believe that back in the day EVERYONE was a savage. Indians killed for fun, the French raped and lied, and the Americans took Indians into slavery or something, and were basically constantly at war. All of this is false. First, the French were known to be mostly peaceful traders, never really at war with the Indians, forming alliances against the English. Second, in the real story, no one died. Glass just went back to Fitz, asked him his gun back, and Fitz didn't kill anyone (Glass never had a son). It's all fiction, and all false. You don't go in icy water so often without stopping first to dry off your clothes by a fire. You don't fall from a cliff into a tree without any injury. You don't recover from a broken leg in a few weeks, or from infection with dry grass and smoke. Texas didn't have any "ranger" at the time. The Indians weren't wiped and devoid of every property (yet). I know it's just a movie blablabla but I fear that many people will take this as historical accuracy, thinking white men were constantly at war with Indians, raping and murdering them at any chance in return. This was not the case at all...

Wonder Woman (2017)

A good fun movie but not the masterpiece many call it

[7/10 · 6 November 2017]

I've seen the movie twice now, at several months interval. At first I really liked it because finally we saw a proper, well done DC movie. I thought many of the situations were funny, I liked that they were ballsy enough to make Wonder Woman actually kill people. The special effects are great, and the main actors are good. I liked the WW1 setting and the photography, as well as the rampage scene at the end where she goes crazy.

On the second viewing I was more reserved though. I think the first act is too long, it leaves few scenes at the battlefront, there's 2 really : the trenches and the village, plus the airfield. I think the main issue I had were the dialogues though. Some were really really cheesy, like love will save us all, or when Trevor asks Diana to help him after she killed the German general and nothing happened. There's like a full 60 sec of hesitation and poor writing... It was really hard to watch. The Amazon battle was a bit too much too, all these showy gymnastics, and the death of her aunt that wlacked drama. The Ares twist is also a bit too difficult to swallow, as well as how easy she kills him in the end (problem for Justice League : if she can kill the God of War that easily, who can fight her...). Those are not too serious problems, it's still a good movie, but I doubt it will stand the test of time. We tend to be magnanimous because it's the first female hero movie, and because there has been so many bad DC movies lately, but in the end it's a good film, not a masterpiece.

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

More than just a fantasy movie for rappers

[9/10 · 31 October 2017]

Many rappers like RZA are obsessed with Japanese culture, and samurais in particular. It would be easy to reduce Ghost Dog to a sort of a rapper's fantasy, but it's much more than that. In fact I see it more as a comedy remake of Leon by Luc Besson, both heroes following the same path. Jarmusch says it's a remake of Le Samurai with Alain Delon, but although the story is closer to it than to Leon, it's really different in mood. Ghost Dog is slow, often absurd, poetic, and funny. The old school mafia guys are just hilarious and pathetic, against a fluid and strange Ghost Dog. You really feel the solitary life of Ghost Dog, and there are a few touching moments: his relationship with Raymond, the pigeons, all enhanced by a beautiful soundtrack and cinematography. It's not a movie for everyone, it is very slow, European in style but with a strong American background : the city, the music, the people... It's just a gem of a movie.

The Gifted (I) (2017–2019)

Not very original, hope it gets better...

[5/10 · 24 October 2017]

The pilot was alright, but made you feel you've seen this dozens of times (and with the number of mutant movies, plus Heroes and the likes, you kinda have...). There are a couple of good actors, like the father, and the girl who plays Polaris, but the rest are pretty basic, or at least written like that. It's too classic, too cheesy. The dialogues, the directing... you've seen all this a million times. And it's very slow. You can afford to be slow when you're so full of brilliant ideas you need to show at least half of them like in Legion. But this is no Legion. This is more like the first season of Agents of Shield, except they don't have the budget for good actors. I think most of their money got into special effects, which aren't bad.

The luck of this show ? Being compared to Inhumans which has been so destroyed by the critics I haven't seen it yet (and I've seen everything Marvel on TV and at the cinema so far). It also comes after Defenders which was awful. This is better than Defenders, but it is quite slow as the Netflix show was. Each episode is one day basically, so I guess the whole season is gonna be just a manhunt. Did they get the writers of the Sarah Connor Chronicles or something ? It wouldn't surprise me, they even have Garret Dillahunt in this.

I don't mind when it goes slow if they develop the characters, but so far (after 4 episodes mind you) they haven't. They NEED to make this season count with something BIG. They need to say that Polaris is Magneto's daughter, this is Fox's network they have the rights for this. They could even guess star Quicksilver... So far it's not been ambitious enough. If you don't show me good dialogue and writing, at least show me big fights and powers. But they always cut them short. In the end you can just fast forward this show with subtitles on and you'd still be fine. I'm already tired of the mother character, the kids, the dreamer/red headed girl and Coby Bell's character which, again, we've seen a million times.

Now the issue is, after one season of Agents of Shield, there were 3 or 4 strong characters the show was worth following for. In The Gifted, there's Polaris and that's it. I'm mainly watching for her and for fun mutant powers... So I'm not very optimistic, I don't think people are gonna relate to this with so weak characters.

The Theory of Everything (2014)

Not as good as I'd hoped: too far from reality

[6/10 · 23 October 2017]

First and foremost, it is a movie about Hawking's wife, not himself. After all it's based on her autobiographical book, not his. So there is very little science, all things considered, which was kinda disappointing. You know very little about his colleagues, about his own discoveries. The actors are great, and some scenes are memorable though. But all in all it was disappointing in one particular aspect: accuracy.

It shows Hawking as very understanding, and as his wife sacrificing everything once she knows he has the disease. Except she KNEW he was sick BEFORE dating him in real life, while the movie shows the opposite... Moreover, you don't feel the years she had to suffer taking care of himself and the kids alone while he refused exterior help. In the movie you feel like the first time he sees her suffering he says "ok we need help". That is not what happened. This is the issue when you wanna show a period of 40 years in one movie, you can't show all the suffering and disputes, as it would be too much to take in for the audience. I've heard that Hawking had a great sense of humor which is shown here, but I've also heard that he can be a jerk, and you don't see that here at all. It's too mellow, despite the disease, and the complex platonic relationship with Jonathan. It's also too Americanised: a lot of orchestral music to trigger emotions at specific moments, I hate that.

It was the exact same issues with Les Intouchables: the music is too present, and they don't show the reality. In the real story of Les Intouchables, Omar Sy's character was closer to a real criminal, was violent. Once there is a discussion where you hear "maybe we should tone it down for the public" it's over, you can't make a great movie out of it.