Monday, Feb 06th
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Philip Raby - film reviews, rants, letters to the stars, ... Ratings: Almost no films get a 1 or a 10. 10 means perfection, something sublime. 9 is about as good as it gets; 8 is very very good; 7 is very good; 6 is good; 5 is average; 4 is not that good; 3 is awful; 2 is completely atrocious. A 1 is a film so bad I can hardly breathe. Hope that’s clear. I’ve tried to be consistent but probably not succeeded.
5/10
I must say I prefer the original title to the anglicised version, which has been used before for various films, and has very little bearing on this story. It's a French film about a successful man (Romain Duris), who seems to have everything - wife, children, job, success - but we sense that he still years for more from his life, and when he discovers a secret that changes everything, he takes dramatic steps, which leads to his starting afresh.
6/10
Ten years ago, Pedro Almodovar was - to my mind - one of the best directors in the world. But in the decade since then, he has struggled to maintain the same level of excellence, and his new film does nothing to rebuild his status. It's not that it's bad, but it falls short of outstanding.
6/10
I was expecting a lot of this film, hoping that it might be a Rolls Royce of a movie; whereas to my mind, it is more of a Ford Cortina with go faster stripes on the side. I enjoyed it, but not as much as I anticipated.
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4/10
The body swap movie has been a staple of cinema comedy for so many years that there isn't really anything new to say or do. Certainly not in this film whose main technique is to try to gross out the audience.
7/10
Not having watched the TV series, I can't make comparisons, but I can tell you that this movie about four idiot teenagers is funny, on a par with Bridesmaids, and with a similar vein of humour.
6/10
The question we have to ask - as with all Lars von Trier films - is this a) pretentious piffle, or b) a serious and important film? Answer, one third PP and two thirds SAIP. It's a Tale Of Two Sisters, aka, The End Of The World as We Know It.
6/10
The hook for this film was the trailer which created an intriguing Bourne-like premise of a man arriving in the Wild West with no idea of who he is or why he's there. Then the aliens arrive. The only trouble is that the premise is more interesting than the payoff. So what's new? But there is still some fun to be had along the way.
If you like the idea of Zoe Saldana as a stone cold assassin (the name of the film refers to her South American origins), kicking and shooting everyone in sight, then here's your film. It was directed by the improbably named named Oliver Megaton, but it has Luc Besson's fingerprints all over it, so it will be loud, edited at high speed, and utterly lacking in subtlety or originality.
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