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Reviews
Licorice Pizza (2021)
A real 70' picture, made in the 2020'
With its atmosphere, esthetic and overall story, Licorice Pizza reminded me a lot of the classic feeling movies from the 70' provide. The characters are complex, yet not explicitly so. You see a lot without it needing be said, which makes this a very interesting film. It might not be for everyone, and it certainly is not your typical love story, yet I still very much enjoyed it. It is one of those strange movies where you do not really know what it is, nor can you put it into words, but it sticks with you. The movie could be described as a coming of age story, and a romance, and though it is both, it brings it in a strange and original way. If you live Paul Thomas Anderson's style, you will probably like this movie, though if atmospheric films that serve mostly as thought-provoking are not your thing, this might not be the picture for you to watch.
To return tot he point I started with, this movie is indeed a true 70' movie, and quite honestly it's one of those films where you could almost believe it was made in that time, if you forget most of the main actors weren't even around back then. This alone is a true achievement. It really captures that idea where everyone wanted to become rich and great, though nobody really knew how and an economical crisis held a lot of people back.
Tori et Lokita (2022)
An intriguing, but unfinished film
Before I begin this review, I should note that I am Belgian myself, and that I therefore happily applaud any movie originating from my country as there aren't many of them releasing.
That being said, this film might leave you a little unsatisfied. The story is about an immigrant girl trying to get an allowance to remain in Belgium instead of having to return to her country of origin. Meanwhile, she has to take care of her younger brother.
The story itself is intriguing and honestly quite interesting to see. A lot of it feels very realistic and profound, and that dept to the characters is felt through their connections to other characters. However, the writing, at times, is not so good. The dialogue given to a small boy doesn't fully feel appropriate, nor does it feel very intentional to make him feel more mature. It contains a lot of sentences that a child that young just wouldn't say.
At the other hand, the actor who plays the young brother Tori did his job very well. He plays the boy in a very dynamic and organic style and deserves quite a bit of praise. This can, sadly, not be said about the lead of this movie, Lokita. She is played quite blandly, with very stiff dialogue and, and this does disappoint me quite a bit, a feeling as if she just reciting her lines. Her actions feel as if they are just being read from the script, and although this isn't completely the fault of the directors, and I'm sure the actress did her best as well, this does hurt the movie quite a bit.
The plot of the film is quite complex in that it is, as I said above, quite a realistic picture, yet also not a straightforward one. There are a lot of situations where choices need to be made that don't seem to be the good ones, yet they are the only ones the characters can make to survive. The plot is also quite good, really, with one big problem. It ends way to soon.
The film is just shy of an hour and a half, yet it feels as if it was written as a two hour picture. The last half hour seems to have just been forgotten, leaving a lot of subplots, but also just the main plot, unresolved, which is in more than one way very unsatisfying. It really feels as if they had two hours of a picture, noticed too late that the deadline was due the day after, and just wrapped it up. I am sure that isn't what happened. It is just a way of describing the feeling I had leaving the theatre, but knowing that this was an intentional choice only makes it worse.
So overall, it is a film with a few ups and downs. It has a great premise, and a few scenes that will really move you and even take you to the edge of your seat, but it fails quite dramatically on other facets, mainly the ending, dialogue and lead. It is therefore not necessarily a movie I would suggest to others, but if you watch it, I'm sure you won't feel as if you wasted money on a ticket either.
Shadow and Bone (2021)
Almost there... (Shadow and Bone - season 1)
Before I start this review I have to say that I haven't read the novels yet. This review will be an analysis of the show itself and not a comparison with the source material.
The story
As I said, I haven't read the novel. That however doesn't take away from the fact that it's the series' creators' task to make the story great on screen. And the story was good overall. It has a well fleshed out world and system, good development and pretty moving moments. This series uses four different storylines throughout the story. I think three of them work very well together and are worth it. However I also think there is one storyline in particular that just doesn't seem to work for me. I am not going to give spoilers in this review but I believe you will see what I mean if you watch it.
The concept
I think the concept of a story is one of the most important part of the whole project. And the concept works pretty well. It uses a lot of magic-like concepts that you are probably familiar with but they feel new and week thought out. However, I feel like the concept is the second problem with this series. I don't exactly know what it is, but it just misses something. What there is is good, but I feel like there should be a little more. Maybe this magic concept of the Grisha isn't enough. It also feels a little unoriginal. However, I believe this is a problem that could still be fixed in later seasons.
The characters
The characters might be one of the best part of this entire series. They all feel very unique and interesting. Their choices feel natural and logical. And I feel like this show did justice to almost all of them. At the beginning of this series I thought that the main character was perhaps a little too cliché, but that changed quickly.
The look
Something I feel every new big show needs to succeed and to be remembered is an original and good look. And I believe this show succeeded. From the designs of the building and landscapes, all the way to the look of the characters and the costume designs, this show really nails it. You will see a lot of real life influences, but they feel appropriate. One thing thought, the CGI in this series isn't very good. And without wanting to trail off, I feel like that's a problem Netflix has had for years now. It feels like the CGI in bad series is way better than it is in good series. (Look at the Queen's Gambit. A great show, but what little CGI they had was really bad. However this series' CGI isn't as bad as that.)
The music
The music works. I think that's everything I can say about it. It's not great or super original, but it's not bad either. It's just kinda there and when you finish watching it you will probably not remember a lot of it.
Final thoughts
This show has a lot to succeed. I think every aspect of it is at least good, but like I said, it still misses something. It could have worked better with a little more originality. I heard people before the series came out talking about how this is going to be Netflix's new Game of Thrones level of series. I even heard people compare it to stories like the Lord of The Rings or Harry Potter. I don't want to disappoint people but it doesn't even come close to it. Mostly because of it's unoriginality but maybe also because of something else I didn't know in what section to place. I feel like this series has a slight lack of vision. It feels like they tried to make everything big without really thinking that through.
So overall, it's a good show, bit it could have been a lot better. If Netflix really wants this to be their new flagship show, then they will need to do just a little better.
Interstellar (2014)
Just beautiful
You need to know one thing before watching this movie. Don't expec.
Interstellar (2014)
Just beautiful
You need to know one thing before watching this movie. Don't expec.
The Mandalorian (2019)
Now this is Star Wars!
Ever since the Sequels and all the hate towards it Star Wars lost a lot of its true meaning. A story about making right choices in a galaxy far far away with complications that can change you completely. A story with a lot of humour, action and tragedy. The Mandalorian finally brings us back to those ideas. It's not a hugh story only for the sake of being hugh and epic without real necessity (looking at you Starkiller Base and Xyston-Class Star Destroyers). This series succeeded at making a faceless character with very little dialogue into a true character worthy of Star Wars and loved by fans.
As a life long fan of Star Wars this is a real gift.
Cobra Kai (2018)
An almost perfect match between old and new
I must admit that when I heard Netflix was going to make a sequel TV show to The Karate Kid I was a little scared. I think we can all say that Netflix overall makes really good series but a recurring problem is what I like to call the "highschool teenage drama syndrome". Netflix tends to include highschool dramas in almost all of their series and often for the worse (think of Stranger Things, Locke and Key etc.) and The Karate Kid seems a the perfect candidate for this problem. I'm relieved I can say that it doesn't have that problem at all. Yes, their are relationship problems and a pretty large part of the story is about teenagers at highschool but it doesn't detract from the story but adds extra layers to it.
But the greatest aspect of Cobra Kai is their mix between callbacks to the original movie(s) and the new story and characters. It has a lot of easter eggs and some story lines are pretty much the same but it's still new and fresh. The new character all have their problems to fix by Karate and they evolve wonderfully throughout the seasons. The creators wrote this story with a lot of respect towards the original movie trilogy which results in fitting continuations between those movies and Cobra Kai.
This is a very good series for both original fans and new fans of The Karate Kid franchise.
P.S. : If you watch this series I strongly advise watching all the original movies before you start. This will add layers to the story and help you understand the many references.
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
The intensity of calmness
My problem with a lot of thrillers is that they usually all are the same or at least comparable. There is a mad person who is trying to kill people someone and a detective who needs to find out who he is. Silence of the Lambs partially follows that idea, but with a genius twist.
Instead of making the killer the main villain in the story, they chose to give that role to Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter. And that was the best choice they could make. Hannibal is a very intelligent and calm characters and the way Anthony Hopkins played the character is just perfect. That little smile, the way his eyes are fixed on people, his very calm voice -no matter watch the situation is. All those aspects make him so intimidating.
Another aspect that makes this movie so great is Clarice Starling, played by Jodie Foster. She is the detective that has to find the killer and for that she needs Hannibal's help. She understands that she can't come too close to Lecter but her curiosity and objective need her to. Every time these two characters are together you just feel something is going to get wrong eventually but you also know that there really isn't any other way. Also Clarice is a perfect way for the viewers to understand what is going on. She is a rather young detective and new at the job which makes her very relatable character for the viewer.
The intensity created in this movie just by the way characters talk to each other is amazing. This is again a movie that proves that you don't need hugh fight scenes to get the audience on the edge of their seats.
Star Wars (1977)
Thé movie
When I think about a movie that changed the way every other movie after it would be made, seen and experienced, I think about Star Wars: A New Hope.
This movie has it all: action, dreams, tragedy, humour, you name it... This movie is appealing to everyone, no matter what age you are. Personally I watched this movie when I was very young and I still watch it at least twice every year. Another reason why this movie works for so many people is probably the characters. As the main character, Like Skywalker doesn't seem so spacial at first. He is a farm boy in the middle of the desert on Tatooine. But throughout the movie he changes into what would later become a true Jedi. The characters aren't superheroes. Yes, the Force is what you could call a superpower but it doesn't come easily. It takes long and hard training to master it. That is why it works so well.
This movie is so famous for so many reasons and I can tell you that it deserves its love.
The Lion King (2019)
Great visual effects but not much else
Normally I am a very open minded person. While most people would immediately hate a remake just because it's not the original, I like to give those movies a chance. The Lion King however was quite disappointing.
First of all I want to say that the CGI in this movie is just groundbreaking. If you would have told me they had trained real lions and filmed them I would have believed you. The images in this movie are on the same level as those from BBC's Planet Earth.
Now comes the negative part. This movie is almost a complete -however newly rendered- copy of the original, sometimes even frame by frame. Yes, there are a couple of scenes added but I was hoping for some more. I would have liked to see some more dept brought to the characters. Maybe even some backstory for characters like Scar, Mufasa and Rafiki. Maybe even under the form of flashbacks. That would have made this a worthy remake.
So overall, this movie is more made for either people who have never seen the original movie (if those people exist) or people who want to have some nostalgia and mind-blowing visual effects.