What did you watch this week (27/08-02/09)
Booyakasha!!!!
Aye Caramba!!
Kawabunga!
Now that I introduced myself,
The Magnificent seven (2016 DVD) : I prefer the original but Fuqua succeeded in making a quality western picture with fine and defined characters , a solid cinematography and great gun fights. The chemistry and magic of the original is not fully present but the cast was good. Honorable mention to Pratt and D’Onofrio who were the best at their roles IMO. 7/10
THX 1138 (1971 DVD): This is a neat little movie, it’s only 1h28 long and the story is very simple (there’s practically no story, just a guy trying to escape a dystopian world) but it was a fun and, at times, trippy experience. It’s George Lucas’s first feature and it’s well done. It was fun to see Robert Duvall so young. 7/10
Real Time (2008 DVD): ’’ A gripping thriller about a hit man who gives a down-and-out compulsive gambler just one last hour to live.’’ Here is another nice short film, only 1h15mins. It offers solid acting by Jay Baruchel et Randy Quaid. The dialogue may lack a certain punch but it’s easy to enjoy. 6/10
State Of Play (2009 DVD): This was a recommendation from my mother, believe it or not. What whit the actors and the reviews, I gladly bought the DVD for 3$ and cranked it in my DVD player. Boy was I bored! Okay, I’m exaggerating but it did take me three evenings to make it t’ill the end. It actually has a lot of potential, especially with the journalism side of the story, but the element of mystery or tension was at like 15% so all the talk and investigating was not that intriguing to me. One thing I did notice though, this crew had one of the best hairdressers out there. Every character had beautiful hair! Everyone in the cast was good, Russel Crowe, Ben Affleck, Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren, Jeff Daniels, but none of them could make this story exciting enough for me. Slightly below average: 5.5/10
Mr Nice Guy(1997 DVD): This is one of my favorite Jackie Chan movies. I loved it when it came out and I still love it now. The action scenes are clever, impressive and fun. The Story? A lost VHS tape that needs to be found by the bad guys is in the hands of a good guy who rolls with his black female assistant, his Chinese wife and a redheaded Australian reporter. How’s that for a story? Non-stop action entertainment from start to finish. 8/10
Scream (1996 DVD): This was my first rewatch and this time the final twist was not as great as I remembered it to be. It’s still good though. Another thing is, I found the jump scares less annoying then I remembered them to be. So that was a positive change. The way the killer just runs and trip over his victims is funny, all the horror movies connection are fun and it makes for a classic in the genre. 7/10
Ratatouille (2007 DVD): This is a first rewatch too. I dropped my rating a bit because I found the first hour a bit slower this time but the second half keeps a better pace. Overall, a strong and beautiful animated that deserves a place in everyone’s movie collection. 7.5/10
Wassup Rockers (2005 DVD): From writer/director Larry Clark, this came out 10 yrs after Kids and it feels much more amateurish then it should. It follows a group of 7 young Latino skaters during a day in their lives but the dialogues are not strong enough to fill the absence of a story. It went by quickly and the kids were okay but it lacked intensity and ingenuity. If you don’t care about skateboarding, stay away from this one, there is at least 20 mins of skating scenes. 6/10